To Serve and Protect
by mabelreid
Summary: CSINY Criminal Minds crossover There are three people dead, few clues and now Peyton is missing and Flack has been shot. Enter Jason Gideon and his team of profilers can they save Peyton and catch a killer before it's too late. DL FS JJReid MacPeyton
1. Chapter 1

**The time line for this is after Slieght out of hand. The CM crew follows the same time line in Season two except I've ignored Revelations and its aftermath for Reid.**

The man stood watching the Manhattan skyline as it glowed with the lights of thousands of apartment buildings and offices. He knew that when most people thought about New York City, they imagined, 5 star restaurants, night clubs that featured the hottest in new talent, and the best in theatre. They didn't think of people like him that crawled over the underbelly of the city, like some new, exotic cancerous growth.

It didn't matter what the elected officials did to change things. Prostitutes would stand on their street corners, and entice men for a quick horizontal fuck in the alleyway, or an even quicker blowjob.

Drug dealers had more than enough trade to keep them in business for the rest of the century, and man could always find a reason to kill.

He had a good reason to kill; it was the only way to get the attention of the city's best crime scene investigator. His victims were carefully chosen for maximum effect, and soon he would have the one that mattered most to his target, and then he would rejoice, while his rival mourned, and searched for her in vain.

Finished with the evenings work, the man knelt back down to pull his knife from the body of the man in front of him. The victim's throat had been cut, and his eyes removed. The killer had placed them in glass containers the size of film canisters. They were clear, and held formaldehyde to preserve the tissue. His victim had also been beaten, and stabbed repeatedly.

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled something out. He tossed it down on the body, and walked out the door. No one looked twice at him. The neighborhood was in the worst part of New York's Hell's Kitchen, and someone like him incited fear and loathing . When the cops were called days later, because of the smell, he would already have his next victim.

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The black SUV pulled up in front of the apartment building and Peyton stepped out. She'd been called in by dispatch, and would be working with Danny Messer. She shuddered as she got out into the starlit night. It was early April, and still chilly in the mornings, but that wasn't the reason she was chilled. This was the third victim in two weeks and the ME's office was baffled by the lack of clues.

The first victim had been an Asian man in his late fifties. He'd been found in his home in the upper west side. His neighbors couldn't believe someone would do something like that to him, he'd had no enemies to speak of. There had been so much blood, and all of it was the victim's.

The second victim was an African American teenager, a sixteen year old boy. He was found in an alleyway off of Central Park.

Now she was here for the third victim, a white male who'd lived in a rat trap of an apartment building in Hell's kitchen. She made her way into the building, and was met by Don Flack.

"Detective Flack," she greeted him. He liked her accent.

" Mornin Doc, we got another one."

"So I heard, where's the body?"

"Come on, I'll take you up. Danny's finished and heading back to the lab."

They negotiated the old wooden steps that looked like they might fall apart at any minute. There was gang graffiti on the walls, but the eyes that watched them pass turned away when confronted by Flack's badge. The smell was terrible, a mixture of rot, urine, and the unmistakable smell of blood in all it's coppery glory. The smell of death overlapped it all, and for the first time since her days as a lab assistant in the London Morgue where Peyton was trained, she nearly vomited.

She put a hand over her mouth, and glanced at Flack again. No wonder he'd looked distinctly green around the gills when she'd arrived. She approached the body, which was in the same condition as the other three. The difference was that he'd been dead for at least five days, and decay was doing its worst.

"Did Danny find the playing card?"

'Yeah," Flack answered as he flipped through his notebook. "It was the same as the others, an ace of spades, thrown down on top of the body as the killer left."

The card was gone; Danny would have taken it in to be analyzed for fingerprints and other trace evidence. If this was the same killer, and at first blush, she had to say that it was, then he wouldn't find anything. She knelt next to the body, and ran her flash light down the length of the corpse.

"It looks like the same wound pattern as the other two. The beating and stab wounds were made after death. The cut to the throat was the COD; he would've bled out within seconds as the wound transected the jugular, and the carotid arteries, your basic ear to ear cutting motion."

One of the uniforms that stood guard at the scene grabbed his mike when a code came over the radio.

He looked at Flack, and the detective said, "We're ok, I'll watch out for the doc, you guys respond. We're nearest to the call." Peyton looked at him inquiringly. "Officer needs assistance," he said simply and she nodded.

She was in the middle of her visual examination of the body when she heard a creak and then a popping noise in quick succession. She looked up in confusion, and screamed when Flack fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his left side. He didn't move, and she was frozen to the spot she knelt in when the silencer equipped gun was turned on her.

"Keep your mouth shut Dr Driscoll, or I will shoot you. Stand up and move away from the body." She climbed to her feet, shaking and thinking only how big the gun looked. The barrel pointed at her was the only thing in the world that mattered. He strode across the room and pistol whipped her. She went down silently, and he caught her easily in his arms. No one challenged him as he carried her through the hallway, and down the stairs to the street below.

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Mac Taylor sat behind the desk in his glass encased office. He threw down a file folder in disgust, and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. The headache that was brewing behind his eyes promised to be a killer. He had several manila folders on his desk. They were all unsolved cases that he tried to look at as often as he could. He felt compelled to do so because he couldn't get the victims out of his head. Peyton said he was obsessing, and he supposed she was right, as much as he hated to admit it.

He stood and walked to the window, looking out at the sunrise over the city. The sky was a riot of pink, rose, white and golden tones. There was also crimson red in the sky, and he wondered idly if it would rain again today. He wouldn't mind, he liked the city after it was scoured clean by a good long rain.

Claire had liked the rain. If they had the day off, she would drag him out to walk down 5th avenue or in Central park without an umbrella, they would get soaked, and she would make tea for them when they returned to their apartment.

Sometimes after they had tea, she would get in the shower, with the water on as hot as she could stand it, and he would pretend she'd asked him to join her. Sometimes they would just make love on the bed, a rose colored comforter beneath them, that he would pull over her after they reached the shuddering plateau together. He would roll onto his back, and she would lay her head on his chest.

They would watch the storm play itself out, or the sun go down in a blaze of colors, whichever came first. He always opened the window a bit, because Claire liked the sounds of the city. They would listen to the rain pound on the windows, and sometimes the blaring of car horns would drift up to them Sometimes it would be the sound of people calling to each other, or the sound of screeching brakes. They let it wash over them, like a wave of chaos that couldn't touch them, in the world they created for each other. It seemed like those days had been never ending and he relished in them.

Then Peyton had quietly entered his life. She didn't walk unprotected with him in the rain, but only because they'd found other things to do that were theirs alone. Watching David Letterman in bed, eating at her favorite Indian restaurant, or going to an off Broadway show at some small theater in the round. Peyton loved the small theaters. She said the actors were more interested in playing to the audience, than stroking their own egos.

He jumped a little when the door opened behind him. He turned, and saw Danny looking like he'd been drug through a knot hole. He'd caught the DOA at the end of a long double shift, and Mac wanted to send him home, but he knew it would do little good. In spite of the circles under Danny's eyes, and the lines around his mouth, he would do the job. It was what Mac admired most about him.

"It's the same MO Mac, this is his third victim, and we ain't got nothin!" His eyes were blood shot as well. He was beginning to look like he'd come off a week's bender. "Right down the line includin the playin card found on the body. In fact, I was just comin to tell ya about it, and then I'm on my way to the lab to process it. I gotta tell ya Mac, it don't look like I'm gonna find anythin. It's the same as the others."

"Let's follow the evidence Danny, it's the only thing we can do for now." He followed the younger CSI down the hallway to the lab, and put on a lab coat. Danny began the process of trying to lift a print. When dusting revealed nothing, he set up to fume the card.

Both of them jumped when Mac's phone beeped. They had been staring intently at the card is if they expected it to start talking, and reveal the name of the killer to them. "Mac here… what… when…. How the hell did that happen? Ok… what hospital… ok …. How is he? Okay…. Yeah I got it… What … No she isn't here, but I'm in the lab so she might be in the morgue. You what… shit…? Okay…. Ok …. I'll be there in ten minutes.

He snapped the phone shut and turned to Danny. His eyes were shining with… was that unshed tears, no that couldn't be, Mac Taylor didn't cry. His face was the same color as the corpses in the morgue, and it scared the hell out of Danny.

"Jesus Mac… what the hell -"

He watched Mac open his phone again and call down to the Morgue. "Sid… its Mac, is Peyton with you? No, she was supposed to be coming back with Danny's DB. Ok… no I'm sure everything is ok… No Sid, I'll explain later."

"God Damn it, how the hell did this happen, where were the uniforms at the scene?" He left the lab walking faster than Danny had ever seen, in fact it was a challenge for him to keep up with his boss.

"Mac what's going on, where are you going?"

Mac turned long enough to spit out. "Peyton's gone missing and Don's been shot!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note:** _Thanks to all who have read and reviewed. Here's the next chapter!_

"Mac what's going on, where are you going?"

Mac turned long enough to spit out. "Peyton's gone missing and Don's been shot."

"Holy shit Mac, what the hell happened?' Danny was practically running down the hallway trying to keep up with Mac's angry strides.

"Stay here Danny, I need something from that card, and when the body comes in I want you and Sid to go over it with a fine tooth comb, is that understood?"

"Yeah Mac, but…" His boss stepped onto the elevator without another word, and Danny stood there staring at the closed doors, stung by the tone in his boss's voice.

He turned and headed back to the lab. The people behind the glass walls went about their work as they always had, and irrationally he wanted to begin shattering the glass, and pull them all out of their complacency. How could they continue with their work when one of his close friends was in the hospital fighting for his life, and another co worker was missing?

He had a horrible thought, what about Stella? She was on another case involving a drowning at some swank party up town. He had to let her know what was happening, before some unthinking uniform spilled it to her.

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Detective Stella Bonasera was shining her flashlight into the unnaturally blue water of the rooftop pool. The body had been removed by a misguided Good Samaritan, when it was assumed that the man had drowned. She wasn't so sure; something didn't make sense about the scene.

She ran the light over the edge of the pool, and found blood splatter, or what looked like blood. She removed a swab to test it, yep it was blood. She moved over to the body, and began to check it for wounds. She turned him onto his side, and found a scrape on the back of his head. At some point he'd hit his head on the edge of the pool. The question was, did he fall, or was he pushed? Those answers would have to wait for the autopsy and tox results.

She stood up and felt a headache coming on. She'd been on duty for sixteen hours, and she was beat. The only thing she wanted to do was find Don and… Her cell phone rang shrilly, pulling her out of a pleasant, if very short day dream.

"Bonasera," she said wearily, she hoped it wasn't dispatch; she couldn't take another crime scene.

"_Stella, it's Danny," _His sounded very upset and her guard went up. What was happening now? Had something happened to Lindsay?

"Danny, what's wrong, is Lindsay ok?"

"_Yeah, listen Stella; I wanted to tell you before you heard it on the scanner, or from a uniform." _Heswallowed hard; he didn't want to tell her about this, not at all.

"Danny what is it, you're scaring me." Alarms began to go off in her head. What if something had happened to Don?

"_Peyton's missing and Flack's been shot!"_

"What," she knew she was yelling at him, but this couldn't be happening. They'd just started dating two months ago, how could this happen. The rational side of her brain was drowned out by the primal panic she felt at the news. He was a cop, she was a cop, they were both in danger every time they clocked on for a shift. She'd been stupid enough to believe that they were above the danger that nothing could happen to them because they loved each other.

"_Stella, are you there?"_

"Yeah, Danny where is he, what hospital?"

"_I don't know. Mac got the call less than five minutes ago. He's on the way to the crime scene, my crime scene. This is my fault, if I'd stayed instead of headin back to the lab to process that damned useless playing card, maybe I could've stopped this from happenin."_

Stella heard him and her brain began to make connections. "You had another DOA with the eyes missing and the playing card?" Everyone in the lab knew about that case. It had been driving all of them crazy for weeks.

"_Yeah, and instead of stayin till she released da body I left -"_

"Stop it Danny, this isn't your fault, where were the uniforms that were supposed to accompany the ME on the scene?" She was angry now, it burned away her grief like brandy poured on crepes and set on fire.

"_I don't know Stella, Mac left so fast I didn't have a chance to get the details." _

It's okay Danny; I'll call dispatch and find out where Don is. I can't leave this scene though; the body has to be processed."

"_I'm callin Lindsay, she can cover for ya." _

"Danny it's her day off, and she needs the rest, she's been working as hard as any of us."

"_Save it Stella, ya know she won't be kept out of this once she finds out. If I don't tell her, she'll have my balls on a spit."_

Yeah, Stella knew it, and she was grateful, and worried at the same time. Lindsay had just announced that she was pregnant, and she didn't need the extra stress.

"Alright Danny, you're right of course, she'd never forgive any of us for leaving her out of the loop."

"_I'm gonna call her now, she'll be there soon, you just worry about Flack, and Stella he's going to be alright, he's too tough to cash it in now, besides he has you to live for."_

Because her response was perilously close to tears, she hung up on Danny, and reached for her radio to call dispatch.

"Detective Bonasera," she turned to the sound of the voice, and saw Officer Burke standing there looking at her strangely. Well… at least she wouldn't have to bother dispatch.

"Well what is it, Officer Burke, I'm busy."

"Ah - well it's just that ah- Detective Flack was shot, and he's in critical condition at St Bart's."

She only stared at him, now that she knew where to find him, she wanted to drive over there as fast as her SUV would take her, but she had to remain there till Lindsay arrived. The officer interpreted her silence as anger and he said, "Ah - Detective Angell told me to tell you, so I -"

"It's okay Burke, go tell Angell that Detective Monroe is taking over for me as soon as she can get here."

"Um okay… He left as fast as he could. He didn't care that the two detectives were using him as a gofer; he just wanted to get away from those green eyes that had burned holes into him.

Stella returned to the body, but her mind wasn't on her job. The only thing she could think about was Don. Oh God, they hadn't seen each other in two days, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd told him she loved him. What if he died and she never got to tell him again?

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Lindsay Monroe opened one eye, and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read seven oh five. Great, she wanted to sleep in but couldn't, not without Danny next to her. When had she become so dependent on his presence? She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her hand moved to her still flat belly and she smiled. No one had been more surprised than she, when the doctor had told her last week that a little Messer was on the way.

Officially they'd been together since the trial in Montana, barely two months ago. She laughed at the realization that little Messer Jr. had been conceived during that trip to Montana. She'd never been so happy to see anyone, as she'd been to see Danny open the courtroom door and step inside.

That night she'd told him the whole story, and he'd let her cry for hours on his shoulder. Her parents had been surprised when she'd brought him home with her, but when they saw the soothing affect he had on her they didn't complain.

She giggled as she stepped into the shower. The next day had been the verdict, and they'd almost kissed when the reporters began to take pictures. Her face raised to his, had been all over the front page in Bozeman, and on the internet. Some friends she hadn't heard from in years, called her mom's house to talk to her, and inquire as to who the gorgeous man was, that she'd nearly kissed. It had been so amusing, and it put everything into perspective for her. Her friends were dead, but life had to go on. She'd spoken to their parents before leaving to go back to New York, and without exception, they all said the same thing, life was precious, enjoy it while you can.

Danny had spent the next two days with her, getting to know her parents, and her two brothers, Sam and David. She taught him to ride a horse, and he reminded her how to laugh again. The night before they were to go home, he'd told her that he was in love with her, and he explained that he was still willing to wait if that was what she wanted. She hadn't said anything; she'd just taken his hand, and led him to her old bedroom.

"_Montana are you sure, you want to do this?" _

"_I love you Danny, I'm sorry I couldn't say it before, everything was just so overwhelming." She opened the door to her room, and Danny snorted laughter behind her._

"_What's so funny Messer?"_

"_What's with the stuffed animals Montana." He crossed the room, and flopped down on the four poster bed. He grabbed a stuffed rabbit, and inspected it with a twinkle in his eyes._

"_Hey… back off Detective, Mr. Floppy Ears and I go way back, so watch what you say."_

_Danny regarded the battered rabbit with a large grin. "Well, Mr. Floppy Ears, I can't blame you for staying on the bed, Montana's a gorgeous woman." He held the Rabbit to his ear as if listening to it speak. "What's that? You want a hug and a kiss? Well… I'm sure Lindsay will be happy to oblige, but she's mine now, so don't get fresh." _

_Lindsay rolled her eyes and snatched the rabbit out of his hands. "Don't listen to the crazy man Mr. Floppy ears, I still love you." She cuddled the rabbit like a child, and Danny went hard watching her hug the toy. His jeans were suddenly too tight for comfort._

"_Hey Montana… dump the rabbit and join me over here."_

"_In a minute, you're so impatient, besides after the way you treated my friend here, I really should kick you out of my room."_

"_Don't be like that baby… please."_

"_What do you think; Mr. Floppy ears, should I forgive him?" She pretended to listen to the rabbit. _

"_Mr. Floppy ears says that I should kick you out. He doesn't like you."_

"_Damn it Montana!"_

_She put the rabbit on a chair and turned to Danny. She noticed the tent in his jeans. She smiled wickedly and ran her tongue over her lips. Her smile widened when he growled her name. _

"_What do you want Messer?"_

"_Fuck Lindsay… I'm gonna explode if you don't lose the clothes and join me over here." He toed off his shoes, and was pulling off his socks._

"_Hmm… I don't know if I can resist a come on like that," she said in a low throaty voice that nearly sent him over the edge. _

"_Montana!"_

_She pulled her tee shirt over her head in one smooth motion, and he gaped at the white lace push up bra she wore. It did wonders for her cleavage. He stood and dropped his pants to the floor, and kicked them away. She moved up to him and he kissed her hard. She could feel his arousal against her thigh. She pulled back and unzipped her jeans letting them drop to the floor. She wore white lace little boy briefs. _

_Her pulled her back to him, and kissed her, licking her bottom lip. She opened her mouth, and he jerked at the electric shock that went through him when his tongue found hers. The rest of their clothes hit the floor. He picked her up and put her on the bed._

_When she began to laugh again, he said quite irritably, "What's so funny Ms Monroe!" _

"_I was just remembering that in high school, my dad would've killed me if I brought a boy into this room."_

_Danny's eyes lit up with mischief, "So tell, me Montana did ya ever have any fantasies here amongst the stuffed rabbits and cats?"_

"_Well, I did have a dream guy, he was about your height, with dark blond hair, and blue eyes, and he wore steel rimmed glasses, and was into science."_

"_What a coincidence, tell me what did you do in your dreams?" _

"_Well cowboy, why don't you make your own moves, and I'll tell you if you're getting it right." Her breath tickled his ear, and nearly sent him over the edge again. He pushed her onto her back, and began with a slow kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth then pulling back to suck on her lower lip. She whimpered in protest when he stopped, and took her face in his hands._

"_I never felt this way about any woman Montana; I love you so much it hurts…"_

She was shaken out of that memory by the water in the shower turning cold, and by the return of the dreaded morning sickness. She barely made it out of the shower, and over to the toilet before vomiting.

Well… the good memories had been fun while they lasted, but she had things to do, and she couldn't be stopped by morning sickness, and the urge to lie down on her bed, and moan. She'd moved in with Danny the day after she found out she was pregnant. There were still boxes to be unpacked, and she meant to get some of that done.

They had found a larger two bedroom place in Manhattan very close to the crime lab. A friend of Danny's had decided that he no longer wanted to live in the city with his wife, and three year old son, so they had purchased a home in Westchester. The rent was right, and the place was large and beautiful.

She pulled on an old Montana State University tee shirt, and a pair of very faded blue jeans. She was just entering the kitchen for some crackers to settle her stomach, when her phone beeped. She grinned with joy at seeing Danny's name on the screen.

"Hey baby, when are you coming home?" It occurred to her that he should have been home hours ago; something big must have come up.

"_Lindsay, Stella needs ya ta cover for her at a crime scene. Flack was shot early this mornin, and she wants ta go ta him."_

"My God Danny… what happened?"

He took her through what he knew, and by the time he finished she, was in her car heading to address he gave her. Her head was spinning, Peyton was missing, and Flack was in the hospital, and another murder.

She didn't know what to do with these cases. She and Danny had been working on them almost exclusively, and they couldn't find anything at all to point in the direction of a suspect, much less an arrest. The cards were the only thing they had and they were a garden variety brand sold anywhere, and impossible to trace.

"I'm on my way Danny; call me when you know something."

"_I will Montana, how's Jr. this mornin?"_

"He's making his mother sick again."

He winced at her tone, and at the image of her kneeling over the toilet, yet again. He'd held her hair a couple of times in the morning, and was beginning to have the greatest respect for her. He knew he couldn't throw up every morning and still summon the energy to work everyday. She was amazing.

"_I'm sorry honey; I know this was supposed ta be your day off."_

"It's okay; you know I want to help. I just can't believe this is happening. How's Mac?"

"_I don't know baby, he took off outta here like Satan himself was on his tail. He spooked me though; he had tears in his eyes."_

"He loves her Danny, much more than most of us knew."

"_I gotta go Lindsay; please stay safe, I couldn't bear if somethin happened to ya and Jr."_

She'd never heard that tone of real fear in his voice before, so instead of cracking wise with him she said, "I promise baby, we'll be careful."

She closed her cell and drove through the awful rush hour traffic. Stella would be going out of her mind by now, and Lindsay couldn't blame her. She hadn't said anything, but the thought of something happening to Danny made her hands grow cold. She called Stella to let her know she was on her way, then she dialed Mac's number. It went straight to voicemail, which wasn't a good sign, the last time he hadn't answered his phone had been when he and Flack had got caught in an explosion.

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Peyton Driscoll tried to open her eyes, and found she couldn't, there was a blindfold tied over her face. Her arms ached, and were pulled behind her, where they were tied together. She was sitting in a chair, and after trying to move her feet, she realized that they were tied together as well. Her head was pounding from the blow delivered by the gun. Her heart was racing, what was happening, why had someone taken her from the crime scene? What did they want from her?

A movement to her left had her trying to jerk away; her mouth went dry as she felt the soft exhalations of breath on her ear. "Who are you," she gasped through sandpaper lips.

"Who I am isn't important, what is important is that I am going to remove your bonds, but not your blind fold. Don't try anything stupid, I don't want to mar that pretty face of yours, and besides, your lover will be more inclined to do as he's told if he sees you're unharmed."

It was the same voice she'd heard that morning. Was it still morning, she didn't know anymore. She felt rough hands removing the ropes around her wrists, and then her legs. A hand grasped her upper arm, and pulled her to her feet. She stumbled as he yanked her a few steps to the left. Then she was pushed down onto a soft surface. There was a creak of bed springs, and she froze as her heart began to pound.

The voice chuckled and said, "Don't worry Dr Driscoll; I'm not interested in a quick fuck. Now look this way, and smile for the camera."


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:** _Hey guys, here's the next chapter, also for those of you wanting to see the BAU, they will show up in the next chapter. _

_Thanks to all who have reviewed._

Hawkes stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor of St Bartholomew's Hospital. He gotten the call from Mac an hour ago, but the traffic had been horrible. His head was whirling. He couldn't believe that Flack was in the hospital again. It had been less than a year since he'd been in the explosion at a brokerage firm, and had nearly died. In spite of the gravity of the situation, he allowed himself a small smile of disbelief at Mac's abilities. Who knew his boss would know what to do to save Don's life, for without him there, Flack would surely have bled to death.

He strode quickly down the hallway, and noticed for the first time that all hospitals looked the same. They all seemed to have the same white tile floors, and the same cream colored walls. He wondered why they weren't painted some other color like a light blue, or even a nice sun shiny yellow.

He approached the door that said: **ICU Authorized personnel only. **Well, maybe he wasn't a surgeon anymore, but he still had the attitude. No one was going to keep him away from his friend, not again. And anyway, he was afraid of Mac, not in the sense of, "if you don't find out something Mac will fire you" kind of fear, more like awe of the man and his abilities. He wanted to be like Mac when he grew up. There had been no better teacher for him then Mac, except maybe Stella. Now there was someone to fear, and he meant, testicles crawling back into his body cavity on their own, kind of fear.

That being said, or thought, he'd better find out something for both of them, or he'd be in big trouble. For that he was willing to face the biggest threat of all, hospital nurses, especially the ones that had been on the job for years, like the one he was looking at now. She was small, about five feet two inches tall, and round, with gray hair knotted severely at the nape of her neck. She wore the traditional nurse's uniform of white dress, stockings, and shoes, and a white nurses cap on her head. Her eyes were a watery blue, and she was scowling at him. He swallowed hard, remembered who he had to answer to, and gave her his biggest smile.

She didn't smile back, and his grin faltered a bit. Shit, this was going to be painful, but he would sacrifice anything for his friends.

"Ah - excuse me, but I'd like to see Detective Donald Flack." Damn, he'd just stuttered like an intern on his first day.

She took in his smile, his badge and his air of - well respectful fear, and said, "Are you family?"

Well… yeah he was "family" just not by blood, but he knew that wouldn't fly with her so he replied, "No, I'm Detective Sheldon Hawkes of the city crime lab. I'm also a medical doctor." Was that a whine he heard in his voice?

He looked at her hopefully, and she regarded him with disdain, and with disbelief. She heard it all in her career, and people, especially reporters, would go to great lengths for a story. Sensing that he was losing her he said, "Please… if it will make you more comfortable, you can check with Dr Nathan Drake. I believe he's still chief of staff here."

The mention of that name straightened her shoulders, he was the chief of staff there, and if this man was claiming to know him, then he probably was who he said he was.

"Doctor you can't see Detective Flack, he's still in surgery, and will be for at least another two hours." Her voice reminded him of every teacher he'd ever had when dealing with an unruly student.

"I suppose scrubbing in, and observing would be out of the question." She only glared and him, and he raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, but is there a doctor that I can speak to that can give me something to tell this man's family and friends?"

"I'm calling Dr Drake, and if he vouches for you then, I'll see what I can do about getting you access to his charts and tests. If not, I want you outta here, do you understand." Part of him wanted to laugh out loud, she was such a martinet, the other part of him valued his hide too much, and he stayed politely respectful.

Yes, ma'am, I understand," he told her, hoping he didn't sound like he was suffering from suppressed laughter. How could he laugh anyway, he must be losing his mind. _It's a reaction to stress Dr Hawkes!_

She looked highly disappointed when Dr Drake said Hawkes was all he claimed to be. She seemed to be unhappy that her chance to have security throw him out had been thwarted. "Dr Hawkes, you've been okayed by Dr Drake, so come with me."

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Mac stood over the blood pool on the floor just inside the door to the rickety old apartment. He'd gone over the scene and could find nothing. The body was being bagged at that moment. He could hear the rustle of the fabric, and the scratch of the zipper being raised, was enough to push his headache up to a full blown migraine.

He knew he needed to process the secondary crime scene, but he couldn't make himself squat down, and take a blood sample. When he looked at it, all he saw was Flack, lying there with a hole in his stomach, and himself tying a shoelace around an artery to staunch the river of blood his friend had been losing.

Then the person he saw was Peyton, eyes gone, throat cut. He bit down hard on his tongue, and the bright pain cleared his head, and the blood pool became what it was, evidence to be processed. _Come on Marine, remember your duty to them both, he's your friend, and she's your - he didn't know exactly what she was, but when he got her back, he'd try to find out. _

He knelt on the dirty floor, and began to do his job. _We'll find the bastard who did this Don. We'll find you Peyton; I won't rest till we do._

He slowly moved his flashlight over the floor and the wall. There was a dark brown hair clinging to the edge of the blood pool. He carefully bagged it, and forced himself not to get too worked up. There was a lot of trace here; the place hadn't exactly been clean in the first place. He knew that Danny would've taken samples of everything near the body, so he concentrated on the door, and the area around it. The knob had traces of powder where Danny had dusted it, but the chances of finding a useable print, was next to nothing. He made himself continue to do his job, methodically collecting, and bagging evidence, trying to get a picture of what exactly had happened.

He wanted to dress down the officers that had left them alone, but they'd only been doing their jobs. In fact, they'd been angry to discover that the officer needs assistance call had been a fake. As soon as they knew it was, they rushed back to the apartment to find Detective Flack shot, and Dr. Driscoll missing. Dispatch was trying to track down the call, but it was looking like it had come from a phone booth a two blocks from the scene.

He didn't want to leave the scene. If he stayed where he was, maybe Peyton would show up laughing at the look on his face, and feeling proud that she had fooled an old ex-marine. He knew that wouldn't happen because Peyton would never worry him like that. This was real, and he needed to deal with that and move on. He turned and left the room. The drive back to the lab seemed to take forever, and when he did make it back he didn't notice the way everyone was giving him a wide berth. There was violence in his eyes, and no one spoke to Mac Taylor when he looked like that, unless you wanted a professional tongue lashing.

His phone rang, and it was the Chief of Detective, Captain Edgar Marsh. He was informed that the Mayor wanted the FBI brought in on the case. They need the help of behavioral analysts, or profilers. Mac loudly protested at this perceived insult.

"Captain with all due respect, we can handle this, we don't need the FBI around gumming up the works."

"_Detective, you're under the misguided notion that you have a choice in the matter, you don't. The city will be in a panic when this hits the news. We have a serial killer, and now a pathologist is missing, and one of our own is in the hospital. What do you think the media will do with that information, Taylor?"_

Mac knew he had to keep an even tone. The Captain hadn't said anything about taking Mac and his team off the case, but it he was pissed off, he might do that.

"Sir, I have the up most trust in my team, we can find this guy on our own, if you just give us the time."

"_Detective, you're team is the best that I have, which is why the mayor and I want the BAU to help us. Jason Gideon and his team will be arriving this afternoon, so I want your team to play nice with them. If you don't, I will hear about it, and you'll all be taken off the case. Is that perfectly clear?"_

"Yes sir," that was it, there was no arguing with the man. God Damn it… he hated politics. He slapped his phone shut, and thought that he may have to accept help from the Feds, but if they peed in his sandbox, there would be hell to pay.

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Lindsay rode the elevator down to the morgue, she didn't want to work on the drowning case, but there was no choice. She couldn't turn her back on a DB just because she wanted to be working with Danny on finding the son of a bitch that had taken Peyton, and put the look of despair she'd seen in Mac's eyes before he shut down completely. He'd ignored her attempts to say the words of comfort that he didn't want to hear. He hadn't been mean, just indifferent and he'd walked away shutting himself in his office.

"Hey Sid, what have you got for me."

Sid Hammerbeck was known for his wise cracks over dead bodies, and although the team pretended otherwise, they thought his strange stories, and comments were hilarious. He provided a release valve on the stress that threatened to overwhelm them at times.

Today he was as solemn as Lindsay had ever seen. Somehow, after everything that happened, and all the concern she felt for the members of her team, Sid concerned her the most. He was the one that had pointed out to her that Danny had a crush on her, and she kind of held him responsible for bringing them together. He'd planted the seed of interest in her, and it had grown from there. Up until that day she'd just seen Danny as a really good friend. Sid had changed that for her, and she would be forever grateful to him for opening her eyes to the possibilities.

"I can tell you that he didn't drown, he was dead before he hit the water. See, no water in the lungs. The COD is blunt force trauma to the back of the head, right at the brain stem. Death was instantaneous! " He pointed it out to her. "I did find some flesh under the fingernails. I sent it up to DNA."

His dead tone of voice scared her badly, she knew that he genuinely liked and respected Dr. Driscoll; they got along well and maintained a good natured competitiveness.

"We'll find her Sid."

Sid looked up at Lindsay with eyes that showed incredible pain, all he wanted to do was go home to his wife and forget about this terrible day.

Lindsay smile weakly at him, and turned to head back up to the lab. Maybe she could distract herself with work. She stepped onto the elevator, and stood in the center of the car watching the numbers flash over head. Thank God there was no elevator music. If she'd had to listen to bright, bouncy, instrumental renditions of the latest pop hits, she might have pulled her gun, and shot out the speakers.

The doors opened and she walked out, turned the corner and ran smack into Danny. He took one look at her, put an arm around her shoulders, and led her into their shared office. He shut the door and turned to her opening his arms.

"Danny, what are we going to do?" She stepped into his arms, and let him enfold her in his embrace. She cried for a long time.

"Sweet heart, it's gonna be okay, we'll find Peyton, and Flack will be up, and chasing Stella around her desk in no time, you'll see."

"It's not that Danny."

He led her over to the small couch against one wall. He sat next to her, and took one of her hands in his. It was trembling, and she refused to meet his eyes.

"Honey," he lifted her chin with one finger, to look at him.

"I'm afraid," she suddenly blurted out.

"Montana… nothin's gonna happen to me, okay. I am right here, and I am not goin anywhere. I got too much to live for." He placed a hand on her belly and she began to cry again.

"What did I say?"

"Nothing, I just love you so much."

"I'm very glad ta heart it, cause I love ya too."

She kissed him, her lips soft as the petals of a rose. "You move me Lindsay, in the most unexpected ways."

She wiped away her tears and laughed when he kissed her nose. His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. "It's Mac," he said to her, as he opened the phone.

"Hey Mac, did ya hear anythin, or find anythin. Yeah, I'm in my office with Lindsay. Yeah ok, we'll be right there."

"What is it baby, did they find Peyton, is Flack ok?"

"I don't know, Mac wants us in his office right now, he said he needs to talk to us about the case. He sounds terrible."

Lindsay touched his cheek with a small hand, he captured it in his own and kissed it. She took one of his hands and led him out of the office. "Come on cowboy, lets go see what the boss wants."


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note:** _Okay, here's the next chapter, and for those of you who have patiently waited, we get to see the BAU this update, now be nice and thank your author by pushing the review button. _

_Thanks to all who have already reviewed, or contacted me in PM._

Stella rushed down the same tiled hallways that Hawkes had traversed just two hours before. The clack of her heels on the floor was loud, much louder than normal. Everything had a hyper reality, as if some lunatic sound and visual effects master had decided to run amok through the whole world.

She pushed through the ICU doors without a second thought, "Miss… you can't be back here!"

"Ma'am this is Detective Bonasera she's a co worker of mine." Hawkes stood between Stella, and the nurse like a shield. The nurse frowned, and muttered as she turned back to the station. "Now there are two of them."

"Hawkes… how is he… can I see him?"

"Come on Stella, let's go sit down ok!"

He risked her wrath by taking her arm, and leading her back out of the ICU, and into a family waiting room. "Sheldon, please just tell me what you know."

"He's still in surgery. The bullet was a through and through. There was no damage to any internal organs; he'll be out of surgery soon. He'll be listed in critical condition until he's out of recovery, and that will be in about four hours. I'm going in to process him myself before they bandage his wound."

Relief coursed through her like a potent pain killer, numbing some of the pain she'd felt since Danny had called her.

"I'm glad it's you Sheldon. I couldn't bear to see anyone else in the lab process him." _Except for Mac, he did it once before, and God knows he loved Flack like a brother. Mac… he must be going out of his mind. I can't think about that now, Don needs me. Why don't they hurry up… and let us know what's happening? _

She tried to continue to listen to what Sheldon was saying about Don , but his words grew fainter in her ears, and she began to remember that night two months before.

_Sandy's was the type of place you went to get away from the cop bars and the endless shop talk. Flack was there because he needed a drink after taking down that magician Chris… whatever his name was. Now that was a bizarre case! _

_Sherrie Martin his favorite waitress led him back to a quiet table in a corner. The lights were dimmed, and a decent jazz band was playing an appropriately melancholy tune. _

"_Hey… baby ya look beat, what's got ya down tonight?"_

"_Nothin Sherrie, I just want a beer and a nice thick steak."_

"_You got woman problems, I can tell. Listen… you tell that bitch, whoever she is, to get lost. I'm off in a couple hours; you know I got ways to make you feel better…" She leaned into him, showing off her ample cleavage in a tight low cut white shirt. Her skirt hit mid thigh, and was black, which matched the midnight shade of her hair. It was cut short and spiked. She wore siren read lipstick, and her baby doll mouth chewed bubblegum in a manner that fueled the wet dreams of teenage boys. Her eyes were the color of dark chocolate, and she effortlessly did her job on spike heels that lifted her small frame five inches off the ground. _

"_No thanks, doll I got a headache tonight."_

"_Suit yourself handsome!" She sashayed away, and his eyes followed her, as he wondered why he'd said no to her. It wasn't like Stella would walk in the door, and sit down across from him. He stared out the window, and watched the traffic go by on the street. He wished he could see the stars; he wanted to remind himself that they, like Stella, were out of his reach._

"_You waiting for someone, or can I join you Flack?"_

_Well …this was an interesting turn of events, because there stood Stella looking at him with those fabulous green eyes._

"_Ah - yeah Stel, I ain't waitin for anyone." Shit, he probably shouldn't have admitted that on a Friday night. _

"_So interesting day, huh."_

"_Yeah… well I ain't goin to a magic show ever again!" _

"_Come on Don… where's your sense of adventure." _

"_I think that's more than enough adventure for one lifetime."_

_She smiled at him, and he felt the same sensation he'd been feeling for weeks now, the urge to kiss her, hell he wanted to do more than kiss her. He wanted to fuck her blind, and then he wanted to stay with her till he was too old to think about sex, much less do anything about it. _

"_Ah - so how did you know I was here?"_

"_I followed you, I wanted to…" Suddenly shy, she found she couldn't meet his eyes. _

"_You wanted to what." Please let her say that she wants to…_

"_I wanted to talk to you; I know this is way out of left field, but I like you Don, and I realized when Lindsay left that I wanted to do something about it. I don't want to be in the place I've been for a year now, afraid to love someone because he might hurt me."_

_He couldn't believe his ears; she was saying that she wanted him. "Stella I don't know what to say, I -"_

"_I'm sorry Don, I just thought - listen I'm gonna go now." _

"_Stella wait… you didn't let me finish my sentence. I'm just shocked to hear you say out loud what I've been thinkin about for weeks."_

_Her eyes lit up like stars, "Really, do you mean that, because I don't want to push you and -" _

_Sherrie arrived with Flack's beer and steak. She took in the tall, beautiful woman, sitting across from Donny, and she realized that she'd never park her shoes under his bed. Oh well, there were other men. She winked at Flack, and said to Stella, "can I get ya anything, honey."_

"_Yeah, I'll have the same thing, he's having."_

_She realized that he was staring at her with something akin to wonder, and amazement. "What?"_

"_Nothin, I'm not used ta watchin a women eat like me."_

"_I'm Greek remember, food is love." _

_He laughed with delight; his mother said the same thing all the time. "Ok, so what do ya want ta do after we finish the side of beef we're splittin?" _

"_How about we go to your place, and I'll show you what else Greeks love."_

_He choked on his steak, his face turning an interesting shade of crimson. "You ok Flack, should I call the medics, or maybe Sheldon?"_

_His face went white at the mention of Hawkes. No he didn't need Sheldon, unless he wanted everyone in the lab to hear about tonight. "No! I'm fine." _

_Hours later after a long, and delicious dinner, and dessert, Flack fumbled the door open to his apartment. He turned and snapped on the lights. Stella slammed the door, and pushed him up against it. Her mouth assaulted his, and her tongue sought his eagerly. _

_He pulled away, which was quite a feat considering there was no room between her body, and his door. "Baby wait," he panted, he didn't want to stop but he wanted to do this right. She released her hold on him, she said, "What is it Don?"_

_He slipped away from her, and flopped down on the couch, pushing away the newspaper, and an old tee shirt that needed to be washed. She sat next to him and took his hand. "Stella I love you very much. I guess I've known it for a long time, but I was too afraid to say it. I just hafta know if this is too fast for you?"_

"_Don… shut up and take me to bed."_

_He did, and he didn't even care that it was a mess, or that the bed wasn't made. Their clothes were shed in a heart beat, and he pushed her down on the bed, and climbed on to it next to her. _

"_I love you Stella."_

_He kissed her, and it was the most gentle, and erotic thing she ever experienced. His hands and his mouth seemed to know all the right places to caress, and touch her. She was wet and aching for him when he finally entered her. He clasped hands with her, and pulled her arms over her head. Each thrust was slow and deep, swelling up and down, washing over her like the tides move to the pull of the moon. Her ending was deep, and all encompassing; there was no room for anything else in her heart and mind. _

"Stella… hey are you alright?" Hawkes voice, not Flack's cut through the air to her ears, and she bit back as hard as she could on the tears that threatened to spill onto her face.

"No, I'm not okay. Don's in that operating room and he might… She couldn't stop the tears; she let Hawkes put an arm around her, and lead her to a fairly comfortable looking chair.

"Stella, this is one of the best hospitals in Manhattan for gun shot trauma. He has an excellent chance. The surgeon will be out soon and… He trailed off as a tall African American man entered the room. There was blood on his scrubs, but he was smiling.

"Dr Sheldon Hawkes, great to see you again my friend."

He pumped the CSI's hand, and Sheldon said to Stella, "This reprobate is my old college roommate Dr Carl Smith. Carl, this is your patient's girl, Detective Stella Bonasera."

"Detective, it's nice to meet a friend of Sheldon's. Detective Flack is out of surgery. I know you need to do your thing Sheldon, but please be quick as you can; we need to get him into recovery.

He turned to Stella and smiled widely, his dark eyes bright and genuine. "Try not to worry. He came through very well."

"When can I see him?"

"It's going to be at least four hours, why don't you go get some rest."

"No, I'm not leaving him."

"Okay, a nurse will find you when he's ready to have visitors."

Stella watched Hawkes follow his friend to the OR, and then when he was out of sight, she dropped down onto one of the couches, and wept.

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Danny and Lindsay entered Mac's office, and found him sitting behind his desk, and staring into space. Danny glanced at Lindsay, and she shrugged. "Ah - Mac, you okay." _Oh great Messer… what a stupid question! _

Mac finally focused on them. His eyes were dead, and Lindsay was afraid for him, that the twinkle would never come back to his eyes. "I just heard from Hawkes, Flack is out of surgery, and they're hopeful that he'll make a complete recovery."

"That's great Mac."

"Now for the bad news, the Mayor, and the Chief of detectiveshave requested the involvement of the FBI, specifically the Behavioral Analysis Unit out of Quantico.

"But Mac, we don't need the feebs poking around, Montana and I can crack this, just give us more time."

"Danny, I know you two are the best at what you do, but the Mayor's right, we need help. I want you to play nice with the profilers."

"Come on Mac you don't believe that -"

Mac leapt to his feet, and came around his desk to stand toe to toe with Danny. "I don't give a fuck what personal prejudices you have against the FBI! You will work with them; they might be the only ones who can get Peyton back alive."

"Mac I'm sorry… I know how much she means to you."

"Do you Danny… I don't think you do. I'm just finding it out for myself. I finally decide its okay to see her, even though we work together, and she gets snatched away from me in the blink of an eye. So forgive me if I'm just a little pissed."

Danny took it all without a word. It wasn't the first time they'd battled over the job and it wouldn't be the last. "You're right Mac, we have to do whatever we can to find the killer and Peyton. "

"I'm glad you feel that way, because they'll be here in three hours.

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FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit

Quantico VA

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner stood on the walkway above the bull pen. He watched his team at their desks. Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan was laughing at something Special Agent Emily Prentiss was telling him about a book she read. He wondered what was going on with those two, if anything.

His eyes roamed over to where Special Agent Dr Spencer Reid sat, he was looking up atSpecial Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau with adoration in his eyes. She stood with her back to Hotch, leaning up against Reid's desk. He couldn't see what she was doing, but whatever it was; Reid was blushing like a twelve year old boy. Hotch turned a blind eye to their relationship because it made the young man so happy to be with JJ. Anyway, it was time to break up the flirting, and get their minds back on work.

"BAU team, I need you all in the conference room now."

They got moving as one, and followed him into the conference room, where Supervisory Special Jason Gideon sat with his glasses perched on his nose and a manila file folder in his hand. JJ cued up the projector, and said, "Manhattan has a serial killer; the first victim was Charlie Yu. His throat was slashed, he was beaten, stabbed repeatedly, and his eyes were removed, and taken from the scene."

She switched slides, and another crime scene popped on screen, "This is the second victim Moses Johnson, he was found in an alley, with the same wound patterns, and today the third victim Timothy Nickels was found in Hell's kitchen. The first two were found within 24 hours of death, Nickels wasn't discovered till someone complained about the smell."

"They were all stabbed repeatedly, and beaten postmortem, why what's the point?" Morgan asked looking closely at the crime scene photos of Charlie Yu.

"The cutting of the throat and the stabbing has a sexual element to it. Is he impotent, and this is the only way he can get release." Emily commented a far away look on her face.

"No, that isn't what this is about, there is something more going on here" Gideon stated. He glanced over at Reid. The younger agent had that look again.

"Reid what is it," He asked.

"There is a militaristic aspect, ah - a playing card was found at every scene. There were reports out of Vietnam that some of the troops left a playing card on the bodies of enemy soldiers, sort of a signature."

"So we got some wacko vet out there killing people."

"People… we don't know enough to establish a viable profile, we need to get to New York, and talk to the crime scene investigators," Hotch said.

"Why, isn't there a detective working the case?" Morgan wondered.

"That's the other problem, the lead detective on these cases, a Detective Donald Flack, was shot at the last scene and the ME on the case, Dr Peyton Driscoll, was kidnapped,"

JJ added with a frown.

Everyone looked at each other in shocked silence until Hotch said, "Ok everyone wheels up in an hour."

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Derek Morgan was sitting on the bench at one side of the plane when Reid entered the cabin, followed by JJ, who was never far away from him these days. He watched them speak quietly for a moment, and then JJ squeezed Reid's hand, and walked to the back of the cabin leaving him with a goofy smile.

"Hey Reid… you gonna sit down, or stand there staring at your girlfriend till we land again." Reid flushed, and sat down across from Morgan.

"Why do you have to make an issue out of my relationship with JJ?"

"Because it's sweet, and cute, and Derek here is jealous that you have a woman, and he doesn't."

"Woman… you have no idea what you're talking about." Emily only smirked, and said to Reid, "He was complaining last trip, that having a hotel room next to you and JJ was the reason he didn't get any sleep for four days."

Reid choked on the last of his coffee, and Gideon said. "Can we focus on the case please?"

This was the team's third trip to New York in two years, and secretly Reid was looking forward to it. He liked the energy of the city, and the fact that you could pretty much find something for everyone. He snuck a look at JJ; she was on the phone, probably with the chief of detectives who called them into this. Maybe there would be an opportunity to have Chinese food again, and he could pretend he still didn't know how to use chopsticks…

"…Reid?"

"Hmm…"

"I need you to work on that playing card, why is he leaving it with the bodies, what do the victims have in common, ok?"

"Yeah Hotch… I can do that," Reid replied trying to avoid Hotch's obvious irritation at having to repeat himself.

Gideon said, "Morgan you and I will head out to the latest crime scene."

"Emily and I will head over to the hospital and see if we can talk to Detective Flack," Hotch stated as they all returned to their usual in flight brainstorming.

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The man sat in front of his bank of computers, watching the good doctor. He'd removed her blindfold. It didn't matter if she saw him. If he decided to kill her, then she'd never be a witness against him. If things went the way he wanted them to, it wouldn't matter if she knew his identity or not.

He watched her sit on the cot her legs drawn up, and tears falling down her face. He'd been smart to watch Mac Taylor before putting his plan into action. Now the man would be even more motivated for the inevitable confrontation. He ejected the disk from the computer, and put it into the envelope he'd addressed to the good detective.

He'd kept his promise to Dr Driscoll, he hadn't hurt her, and she looked beautiful on camera. But if the Detective didn't do as he was told, well he might have to make an example of Peyton Driscoll.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** _This chapter contains a spoiler for Silent Night. Some of the dialog between Mac and Peyton is taken from the episode, I take no claim for it's brillance, that's all the talent of the writers of the show. _

_Thanks to all who've taken time to review and to add the story to thier alerts, I hope those of you that haven't done so will press the review button and tell me what you think._

The jet taxied to a stop on the tarmac, and she watched as several people deplaned a few minutes later. The first was a man with dark hair and eyes. As he got closer she wondered it he ever smiled. His face looked like it might crack if he did. He was followed by a shorter balding man, with dark graying hair and dark eyes. He looked like a vacationing college professor, but he at least looked like he knew how to smile once in awhile.

Then came a fairly tall, and muscled African American man, he was pretty good looking for an FBI agent. He was smiling at something the black haired woman at his side was saying. Behind them were two other agents, a blond haired, blue eyed woman, short and very pretty, too pretty to be a fed walking very close to a tall, lanky, brown haired man. As they approached, Detective Angell noticed he had the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes she'd every seen. He was pretty cute in spite of the prep school attire he wore. Too bad he and the blond had something going.

"Detective Angell," The dark haired man asked, holding out a hand to her.

"Yeah, that's me, are you Special Agent Aaron Hotchner?"

"Yes, that's right, this is SSA Jason Gideon," he said, indicating the one that looked like a college professor. "This is SSA Derek Morgan, Special Agent Emily Prentiss, Special Agent Dr Spencer Reid, and Special Agent Jennifer Jareau."

"Come on then, I'll take you into town, Detective Taylor's waiting for you." She turned her back without another word, or look, her tone was less than welcoming.

The ride into Manhattan was quick because of a lucky break with traffic. They pulled up in front of a large building in midtown, and Detective Angell led them inside, and onto an elevator. When they got off the car, and were confronted by room, after room of clear glass, Morgan hissed at Reid, "What's with all the glass? It gives me the creeps."

Reid opened his mouth to remind Morgan that the bull pen at Quantico was an entirely open space, when a man approached the group. He was medium build with dark hair, and eyes that looked like they'd seen more sorrow than one man should know in a lifetime.

"Hey Mac, these are the FBI Agents."

"Thanks Detective, Lindsay needs to see you about the DB from this morning."

She made quick introductions, and then headed off down the hallway to find Lindsay. She couldn't wait to tell Detective Monroe about the profilers. Who knew a bunch of mind geeks could be so attractive?

"Come on, I'll show you where you can get set up for the duration." He led them to an empty room, also walled in glass.

"Detective, I'd like to take Agent Morgan, and visit the latest crime scene." Gideon said.

"Alright, I'll take you down there." _Remember Taylor, play nice!_ It was going to be hard to be civil, the air of polite superiority that he sensed from them was maddening.

"Detective, we also need to see the Detective that was shot at the crime scene." Hotch said.

"He's out of surgery, but still in recovery. I only know that he's unconscious, and in critical condition." Mac explained.

"I'd like to take Agent Prentiss, and go over to the hospital anyway. If he wakes up soon, maybe he'll be able to give us a description of the un-sub, or tell us what happened to your ME."

"Suit yourselves; he's in Saint Bartholomew's hospital in mid town. I can have a uniform take you over there." If the agents wanted to waste time at the hospital, then let them.

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Lindsay was hunched over a microscope looking at some trace pulled off the walkway to the pool. She sighed and straightened up. She didn't want to be on this case, she wanted to be helping Danny find whoever shot Flack, and kidnapped Peyton.

She smiled as Detective Angell walked into the lab. "Hey, I guess you ran into Mac."

"Yeah, I got the privilege of bringing in the feds from the airport, like I don't have anything better to do than play chauffer to a bunch of G-men. At least the guys in the group are easy on the eyes," Detective Angell said with a lecherous wink at Lindsay.

Lindsay raised an eyebrow. "See something you like Detective?"

"Yeah, there's four guys, one of them is wearing a wedding ring, and doesn't know how to smile. The other one is too old for me. One is tall, black and beautiful, but I don't know, there was something about the way he walked, he seems like a player. The last one I saw was pretty damn hot, in a prep school boy kind of way, but he's got somethin goin with the blond chick that came in with them."

"Too bad for you , but if it makes you feel any better, I do have some good news, our victim didn't drown, he died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head. He was pushed, and he fell cracking his skull on the edge of the pool. Death was instantaneous.

A machine beeped and a face came on screen. "There's our match from CODIS, a Mr. James Mortimer, extortion, assault with a deadly weapon, and now it looks like he graduated to murder," Lindsay said, with a gleeful smile.

"Okay, I get to go bust his ass." Angell said, snatching the printout from Lindsay's hand.

"Have fun," Lindsay said, waving absently in the detective's direction.

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Reid sat staring at the picture of the playing card in front of him. Gideon had asked him to concentrate on its meaning, but Reid wasn't so sure there was one. The cards used in Vietnam had been to inspire fear in the Viet Cong. Was that the intention here, to inspire fear, or was it there to mislead, like the beatings, and the stabbing done post mortem.

"Hey, I know that look babe, what's bothering you," JJ asked, from her chair next to him.

He shivered at the touch of her hand on his face, as she pushed back the hair from his forehead. He caught her hand, and held onto it for a brief moment.

"I'm not sure, the ace of spades is known as the death card. It's definitely a signature, but there's more to it than that in this case, I just don't know what yet."

"What you were saying before about its use in the military, do you think a soldier is killing these people?"

"I don't know, we need to get more information to put together an accurate profile. I do know that 90 percent of all combat soldiers end their tours with some form of P T S D."

"Is he like that guy who thought he was in the middle of a war zone, and ordinary people were the enemy," JJ asked with a small frown.

"No, this is too organized and controlled."

He stood up and went to the white board. "Why beat and stab someone after death? He's not hurting them so their pain isn't a source of emotional,or sexual release for the killer."

The glass door opened, and a short, but very pretty woman entered the room. She had shoulder length, curly brown hair. Her eyes were brown as well, and she had a button nose, and a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Detective Monroe."

"You're one of the CSI's working this case, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

JJ stood up and went over to the woman, she held out a hand. "I'm Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, you can call me JJ if you want, and this is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid."

"That's quite a title, do you prefer Agent Reid or Dr Reid."

"Ah - just Reid's okay. Ah - excuse me, but why are you so friendly, everyone else has been kind of… He trailed off and flushed. He hadn't meant to say that.

"Kind of rude, hostile, or indifferent," Lindsay asked with a grin."

"Well, yeah."

"This is New York Reid, everyone's like that here, but they mean well. I guess you get attitude wherever you go."

"Yeah, we do actually," he admitted with a bit of a frown, and genuine confusion in his eyes. He could never understand why the locals were always so hostile to them. All they ever wanted to do was help.

"Look, everyone's upset, we all care about Peyton, and Flack is like a brother for most of us. We just want to catch whoever did this to them."

"We understand, I don't think any of us could handle it if something happened to one of our team."

"Besides I'm not a native New Yorker," Lindsay admitted.

"Oh really… where are you from," Reid asked.

"Montana, I'm a country girl."

"Say, did you know that wheat is the biggest crop for the state of Montana in fact, 43 percent of - sorry I have a bad habit of rambling statistics, I'm trying to work on that, and be more conversational."

"Don't worry I spout useless trivia when I'm nervous too." Lindsay grinned at the young doctor's blush. Angell was right, he was cute.

JJ rolled her eyes at both of them. Now they had to put up with listening to two of them spout off useless facts.

"I'm not trying to look over your shoulders, but how's it going, do you guys know anything at all,"

Lindsay asked with hope in her eyes.

Before Reid could open his mouth to answer a voice with a heavy Staten Island accent that was filled with frustration and contempt said, "Montana may be too nice ta look over your shoulders, but I don't have that problem."

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Mac led the feds up the stairs of the apartment building to the last crime scene. He pulled away the yellow sealing tape and opened the door.

The room was small and filthy. There were stacks of old newspapers in one corner, yellow with age, and full of rat holes. A couple of good size cockroaches scurried away into the paper thin walls. The window was open so that the stench of death that had pervaded the place was gone, to be replaced by the smell of garbage, and rotten wood. The wall to the left had a sink with a dripping faucet, and was stacked full of dirty dishes.

"Our third victim wasn't exactly an upstanding citizen, but no one deserves to die that way,"

Mac commented as Gideon surveyed the scene, and took in the stains of Don Flack's blood in the corner by the door.

The carpet was brown, stained with food, blood, and so many other things, it was a miracle they managed to pull any trace at all.

Well he wouldn't win any awards for his housekeeping skills, that's for sure," Morgan commented as he went to the one window, and looked out at the fire escape.

"He left this apartment by way of the stairs, which makes sense if you're carrying a body, but why leave that way after the murder, you risk being seen?"

"How do you know he didn't leave that way?" Mac asked.

"There were no prints found on the window except for the victim, who lived here."

"So, maybe he wore gloves what's the difference how he left." Mac said. He was losing patience with all of this.

"It matters because it tells us that he's extremely confident and he's playing with us. You said that he killed one man in an upscale apartment. How did he get in and out of there without witnesses? He killed the second one in an alley off of a heavily traveled park. Even at night, that's pretty cocky. He killed the third victim at night, but he came back to the scene of the crime after luring away the officers assigned to watch out for the ME," Gideon said with a significant look at Mac.

"Look," Mac said, "I know that you were asked to come here by the mayor, and the chief of detectives, but I don't see the reason for you to be here. We have to work with the evidence, and the facts of the case, not stand around, and discuss why the guy's killing the people of my city. I understand the importance of motive, but I have a detective in the hospital, and Peyton's in the hands of a killer. I need to be in the lab looking at evidence, not babysitting profilers."

"I know that you have a job to do Detective, but I am curious about one thing, why didn't you tell us that the killer took Dr Driscoll to hurt you," Gideon asked.

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Peyton tried not to think about Mac. The camera fixed to one corner of the room let her know that she was being watched, and she didn't want this man to see her cry. She refused to give him the satisfaction. But she couldn't help it, the same scenario kept playing over, and over again in her mind, like her own personal entertainment system that she couldn't turn off.

_It was close to the holidays, and Mac had a case involving an entire family that was deaf. The oldest daughter was killed, and she'd done the post on the body. Mac had come down to the morgue for the results and he had tried to apologize to her for pushing her away. He said he wanted to talk to her. _

_She didn't want to hear anything he had to say. He'd hurt her so badly when he'd refused to acknowledge their relationship to his friends and coworkers. It made her feel like she was nothing better than a common streetwalker, or a mistress. _

_She was tired of crying every time she saw him or thought of him. She wanted it to be over. Then that night, after he'd tried to apologize, she decided to call him. Her hand pressed the send button on the phone, and then just as quickly it pressed end. _

_She'd looked up to see him standing in her office doorway and he looked so sad. She started rambling about the case and he swept her into his arms. He'd said "Look into my eyes, because I need you to hear me. I can't promise I'll never be hesitant or cautious, but I am committed to making this work. Trust in me Peyton I don't want to lose you." _

And she'd believed what she saw in his eyes, because she was in love with him, and she desperately wanted it to work between them. He took her to his place that night, and when they made love she felt for the first time that he really loved her, and he'd really meant it when he said that he wanted to work it out.

In spite of her promise not to, she began to cry, not for herself, or not only for herself, but for Mac as well. How much more did he have to take before the fates decided to leave him in peace? She dropped down on the bed again and sobbed.

"Let me out of here you bastard." She screamed at the camera.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note:** _Once again my thanks to all who continue to review on a regular basis, and to those who've commented for the first time. I have recieved alot of great feedback that helps me make this story even better, so keep it coming_.

When Hotch and Emily entered the door marked: **ICU Authorized personnel only,** they were met by the same contemptuous stare from the duty nurse. She didn't bother to get up from her chair behind the desk this time.

"We're here to see Detective Flack, this is Special Agent Emily Prentiss, and I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner."

The nurse frowned and said, "He's just come out of recovery. Why don't you wait with your friends in the family waiting room?"

"Excuse me, but what friends would those be," Hotch asked, wondering if she were trying to stonewall them.

"Your cop friends, they've been waiting here most of the day, one of them used to be a surgeon, now he's a cop, a waste of a good education if you ask me."

Hotch looked at Emily, and she shrugged, maybe it was better to talk to the CSI's, surely they would be more forthcoming than this nurse was.

Emily led the way back out of the ICU and they entered the waiting room. There was a tall, dark haired woman, with dark green eyes, standing at one end of the room talking to two African American men, one of whom was wearing a white lab coat. The other wore a bright yellow polo shirt and jeans. He had a kind face, and large dark eyes.

"Excuse me, but are you Detective Flack's doctor," Hotch asked, addressing the taller of the two men as he crossed the room to the small group.

"Yes I am, and you are," Dr Smith asked cautiously.

"I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit; this is my colleague, Special Agent Emily Prentiss."

"Right… you're the profilers, Mac told us about, I'm Detective Sheldon Hawkes, and this is Detective Stella Bonasera," Sheldon said, holding out his hand to Hotch.

Stella didn't take Hotch's offered hand. He noticed that her eyes were red, and he wondered if she was more than a friend to this Detective Flack.

"This is Doctor Carl Smith, he operated on Flack," Sheldon continued, gesturing to his friend.

"Dr Smith, what can you tell us about his condition, can he talk."

"If he can he's not talking to you, he needs his rest not the fucking FBI here to bother him," Stella spat at him her eyes flashing.

"Detective, you're a crime scene investigator; you know how important it is to question witnesses -"

"He's a person… not a witness Special Agent whatever your name is, so back off… and if anyone is going to talk to him it'll be me!" Stella shot back at him.

"Stella, why don't we go see if there's decent food in the cafeteria, okay."

"Don't patronize me Hawkes… I'm not hungry and I want to see Don."

"Detective, you can't let your personal feelings for the victim get in the way of our jobs," Hotch said.

"Are you profiling me, because if you are then you know you better stay out of my way?" She dismissed him by turning her back, and demanding of the doctor to be able to see Flack. He told her the room number, and she vanished out the door, and down the hall without so much as backward glance at the agents or Hawkes.

"Listen, I apologize, Stella's upset, she doesn't mean anything -" Sheldon tried to explain, but was interrupted by Hotch.

"I'm a married man Detective Hawkes. I understand how she feels, but we need to talk to the detective, he may have seen who shot him."

"It doesn't matter which of you talks to him first, the fact is that he is still unconscious, and I won't have you all causing a disturbance on the floor, so take it outside if you can't resolve this okay?"

"Carl, I'm sorry man, of course you're right. We'll keep it down… I promise."

The surgeon smiled a sad and tired smile. Sometimes he hated his job. "I know Sheldon; I wish that we didn't have to treat gunshot victims."

"Me too, maybe one day," Sheldon said without much hope.

Dr. Smith slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and turned to leave the waiting room.

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Stella entered Flack's hospital room with her heart in her throat. Her hands were shaking and she felt faint. _Come on Stella get a grip!_

The doctor had told her what to expect, but that didn't stop the tears from flooding her eyes at the sight of the IVs steadily dripping into both arms, and the nasal cannula helping him breathe. He was pale, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

She sat down next to him, and took one of his hands. It was reassuringly warm in hers. "Don… its Stella…you scared the hell out of me, again. You gotta stop doing this, ok!"

"You gotta wake up now, and tell us what you saw baby. It's important; you gotta help us find Peyton. You gotta open those big blue eyes, and smile at me again. Please baby, wake up and talk to me."

Sobs were choking her now and she couldn't continue speaking to him. She laid her head down on the bed next to his right arm and closed her eyes.

Memories flooded her mind even though she tried not to concentrate on anything, but the feel of his hand in hers.

She remembered the first time she'd seen him, he looked like an adorable overgrown puppy, and he was so young. She'd thought he was hot from that first moment, but her heart was still Mac's at that time. It took so long for her to realize that Mac would never love her the way she wanted. It had hurt, that realization, but she got through it.

There were other boyfriends, and dates, but as they all went out of her life, Don had stayed, a good friend at first, and then something changed. She thought it was about the time Frankie had tried to kill her. Don was the one to sit by her and help her remember the terrible things he'd done to her. She hadn't wanted to kill Frankie, but he left her no choice. Don never judged her about that decision; in fact the look in his eyes when he told her that IA had deemed it a good shoot had convinced her that something other than friendship was in his heart.

She'd been so afraid to let him in, but when she had, it was like she'd finally found the missing half of her soul. They had so much in common, a love for good food, the Mets, solving crimes, and just spending a Sunday afternoon curled up on the couch talking about anything and everything.

Would they ever get another chance just to be together, and enjoy each other's presence, she prayed to God, and begged the fates for one more Sunday afternoon.

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Danny Messer watched the young agent at the conference table, and the young blond woman next to him. It didn't look to him like they were hard at work. It looked like they were gossiping.

"Montana, ya havin a tea party or somethin," He asked eyeing JJ and Reid with real contempt.

"Danny, these are the profilers, we were just talking about -"

"I can see that; don't let me keep you away from your bull session. After all, I'm sure that whatever you're discussin is more important than findin the son of a bitch that shot Flack!

Lindsay raised an eyebrow, she was used to Danny's hot temper, but the feds weren't, and she didn't want this to escalate.

"Danny, stop it, you know why the profilers are here. We need their help."

"That's where you're wrong Montana." He held out the test results he'd just received on the hair found at the crime scene. She plucked it from his hand.

Danny turned to address Reid. "The DNA belongs ta Mickey Patterson. His rap sheet reads like a who's who of crime. He lives two doors down from where da last victim was found, and 3 months ago they had a fallin out that resulted in a brawl with three other guys. How does that fit in your profile?"

"Actually a profile is just a guide that -"

Danny ignored him and strode out of the room with Lindsay hot on his heels. JJ stood and put an arm around Reid's waist. He looked down at her upturned face, confusion back in his lovely eyes, "What did I say?" he asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Nothing babe, you know how the locals are sometimes."

"Yeah… but what I really want to know it what's up with him calling Detective Monroe "Montana?"

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"Daniel Messer!" Lindsay shouted after Danny's retreating back, earning her looks ranging from surprise, to irritation, to knowing leers.

She ran full out and skidded to a stop next to him. "Danny, stop!"

"Montana, we got a lead, go back ta makin friends with da feds, I'm callin Mac." He pulled out his phone and called the older detective.

Lindsay stood with her arms crossed, and her foot tapping impatiently while Danny spoke to Mac. He ignored the angry flashing of her eyes.

"Okay Mac… yeah I'll see ya when ya get here."

He slapped the phone shut, and gaped in surprise when Lindsay grabbed his arm, and dragged him into Mac's office. She let the door fall shut with a bang, and rounded on him.

"You need to go home Danny, you haven't slept in 36 hours."

"I'm not closin my eyes till Peyton's back." He turned to go, but she was there blocking his way.

"Lindsay… get out of my way," his voice dropped an octave and his bloodshot eyes blazed.

"No, I'm worried about you. You try to be this tough guy from Staten Island, but I know better." She entwined one of her hands with his.

She led him over to the couch at one end of Mac's office. She pushed him down and he sat without protest.

He sat for a long time, unable to meet her eyes. Then he looked up at the beautiful brown eyes he loved. "I'm sorry Montana; I'm just so fuckin pissed. Flack's like a brother ta me." He reached out to touch her belly again. "Ya know I asked him yesterday ta be the baby's godfaather. I know I never asked ya what ya wanted but -"

"I think that's perfect. We should ask Stella to be the godmother." She sat next to him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"What's gonna happen ta Mac if Peyton…" He couldn't say it.

"She's going to be okay Danny, the profilers will help us get her back. You have to trust them."

He leaned his head back and she continued to stroke his hair. She loved the feel of it on her fingers and hands.

"I know what you're doin, and it ain't gonna work." He said softly as his eyes began to close.

"I know babe, but humor me anyway."

"Don't want ta sleep, got too much ta do…" Lindsay stood and pushed him gently down on the couch. She lifted his feet up to rest on the couch, and he muttered, "five minutes, then I gotta get up," his voice was slurred with sleep.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I know baby… just rest."

She straightened up and left the office. There were several detectives, and some lab personnel standing there looking at the scene before them.

"What," Lindsay demanded, "the show's over people." She watched with amazement, and exasperation as money changed hands among some of the detectives. She shook her head, and tried not to laugh on her way back to the lab.

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"I know that you have a job to do Detective, but I am curious about one thing, why didn't you tell us that the killer took Dr Driscoll to hurt you," Gideon asked.

Mac's phone rang, and he thought, _saved by the bell literally!_

"Taylor," he answered. "Yeah Danny… what… Ok… yeah they're here with me, we'll go bring him in."

He shut his phone. "We got a match to DNA on the hair found adhering to the blood pool. He lives two doors down, and he and the victim have a history of bad blood. "

"That's a convenient coincidence, don't you think," Gideon asked Mac.

Mac eyed the other man, and said, "That's one thing we can agree on, this Mickey Patterson isn't keeping Peyton locked up in this building."

"So what are you thinking, he planted evidence to throw us off?" Morgan asked.

"No, I don't think so, this Patterson could've been in here, and he may have seen the un-sub."

"Let's go talk to him," Morgan said, turning for the door.


	7. Chapter 7

A/n Sorry for the delay in posting, the site wouldn't let me upload a document, thank to notesofwimsey for the workaround.

"NYPD! Open up Patterson," Mac called out. They heard a scuffle from within the little room, and the sound of a window being opened.

"He's running," Mac said as Morgan kicked the door in.

Mac took off down the stairs while Gideon, Morgan, and two NYPD officers cleared the apartment. Morgan went out the window, and onto the rusty fire escape.

"Jesus, I hope this thing doesn't fall down around my ears," he muttered as the metal squealed, and trembled at his passage. He leapt the last ten feet to the pavement, let himself fall and roll. It wasn't great on his sprung knee, but at least he could still run.

He could see several hundred feet ahead of him, a short dark haired figure running along the alleyway.

"FBI Freeze!"

Patterson ignored him of course and kept running. Morgan nearly fell again when he slipped on something wet and slick. The alley was filthy, and he didn't want to know if he were stepping in whatever made the awful stench in his nostrils.

"Damn that Patterson, when I get my hands on him."

Patterson reached the end of the alley as Morgan closed in on him. He was tackled to the ground by Detective Taylor who came at him from the right . The man went down with a yelp, and began to squirm and kick under Mac. He was strong, and even Mac struggled to hold on to him.

Morgan skidded to a halt next to them breathing hard. He pulled out his cuffs, and slapped them on as Mac held Patterson still.

"Nice moves man, you play football?"

"Nope, ex-marine;" He jerked Patterson to his feet, and they bundled him into the back of Mac's SUV, ignoring his protests while Mac read him his rights.

Gideon and the officers entered the street from the apartment complex, and they headed back to the lab.

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JJ, Reid, and Lindsay watched through the two way glass, as Morgan, Mac, and Gideon interrogated Mickey Patterson. He was loudly complaining about his treatment, and he threatened to sue the department for false arrest.

Mac slapped his hands down on the table, "Mickey, shut the fuck up, and be straight with me. We got your DNA at your buddy Nickel's apartment; we know you were in there."

"I don't know nothin, I didn't see nothin, and you ain't got nothin on me." So far he hadn't asked for a lawyer, which made their job easier, but soon he was going to realize he needed one.

"Mr. Patterson, we know you didn't hurt the cop, we just want to know what you saw." Gideon said, ignoring the scowl that came over Mac's face.

"I didn't do nothin!"

"I know that, but you have to help us help you. The cops have your DNA, and if we can't find someone else you're going to be charged with the murder of three people."

Patterson's eyes went wide, and scared, like a small child caught finger painting the living room walls. "I tole ya, I didn't kill no one."

"We know that, but who else could it have been? Tell us what you saw that night, and maybe we can make a deal on the resisting arrest charge." Mac said.

"I can't tell ya, he said he'd kill me."

"We'll protect you, I promise."

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Morgan left the room, nodded at Reid, and pulled out his phone. He pushed the speed dial for a familiar number, and grinned widely when she answered. "Penelope Garcia, goddess of the information superhighway, speak and be heard."

"Hey my beautiful goddess, I need you to work some magic for me."

"Anything for you sugar," she smiled widely.

"I got a Mickey Patterson, native of New York; I need you to check out for me. Anything you can tell us about him would be great." He gave her the names of the victims. "Find me a connection between these men Penelope. These aren't random victims; we need to know why they were chosen by the un-sub.

"Sure sweet thing, anything you want."

"Oh baby, don't make promises like that, I might just take you up on it!"

"Sugar, when you decide to stop flirting and get down to business you know where to find me." She hung up on his laughter and sighed.

"Honey, I wish you meant it when you say things like that to me," she said to herself, while looking into Mickey's background

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He opened his eyes, and started in surprise at the scene in front of him. He couldn't be here; he was supposed to be working on the case. He had to help find Peyton. He looked around at the café. It wasn't a place he was familiar with, but then again he seemed to recognize it. There were a group of girls at a table, giggling, and eating ice cream sodas. They were school girls, about fifteen years old, fresh and pretty, without a care in the world.

He walked across the room, intent on asking the waitress where he was. His eyes swept across the group of girls again, and he stopped dead when he saw her. His heart stopped in his chest, and his hands went cold. She shouldn't be here. He could feel it in his heart; suddenly he knew without a doubt that something bad was coming. Something was going to happen to her.

"Hey, who's that girl over there," he said pointing to her, and speaking to the waitress. He knew who she was but he wanted someone to tell him it wasn't possible. The waitress ignored him completely, and walked by as though he wasn't there.

"Excuse me, but that girl over there, she can't be here now, she has to leave." The waitress continued to ignore him. No one moved, or even acknowledged his presence. He walked quickly over to the table, and stood right in the girl's line of sight, and like the others she ignored him.

"Hey, ya gotta get outta here!" He yelled waving his arms. She only laughed at something a friend, said and seeing that smile sent his panic into overdrive. Now he knew where he was and what was going to happen. He had to get her out of there; he had to get all of them out of there.

"Lindsay, it's me, its Danny. Honey ya gotta go, somethin's gonna happen, baby." She didn't see him, didn't hear him, even though he pleaded with her to leave, or hide.

Suddenly he was out of time; a man came into the café. He cocked the shotgun he was carrying, and shot the girl next to Lindsay. The girl fell to the floor in a spray of brilliant red blood. Lindsay screamed, and Danny moved to stand in front of her. The gun rang out again; the shot passed through him and hit Lindsay. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"MONTANA, NO!!!

He dropped to her side and gathered her into his arms. He wailed when she didn't move. He couldn't feel her breathe, and she didn't answer him when he screamed her name. His tears fell in torrents rivaling the pools of blood on the floor. He watched as the man killed everyone in the room, he was powerless to stop it. He knelt in her crimson blood, and screamed, rocking her in his arms.

"LINDSAY… PLEASE BABY… YOU CAN'T GO!!!"

Danny's eyes popped open when he rolled off the couch and on to the floor. He thought he'd been screaming out loud, but he realized he was whispering instead.

Jesus Christ… what a horrible dream, I have to find her and make sure she is okay.

He jumped to his feet, and ran out of Mac's office, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the detectives in the hallway, and ignoring the rational part of his brain that tried to tell him she was fine, and he was overreacting.

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"Come on Patterson, we've been over, and over this, tell us what you saw that night."

"He'll kill me he said so," Patterson repeated for the tenth time in the hour he'd been in there with them.

"Mickey, you've been charged with another felony, this is your third strike. Do you know what that means," Morgan asked.

"Yeah man I know, but I'd rather go to jail, at least there I'd be safe."

"Man you're crazy, you want to spend twenty five years in jail for a murder you didn't commit?"

"I told you, he'll kill me."

Mac sighed and said, "I'm done here, let's just let this asshole rot in jail."

"Mickey, we'll get you into Witness Protection if we have to, just tell us what you know," Gideon promised shooting a disapproving glance at Mac.

"You promise you'll protect me?"

"I promise Mickey ," Mac said, "Let's talk this out, and if we find the killer, we'll work something out with the prosecutor's office."

"Okay man, I'll tell you what I saw, but you ain't gonna like it, and you won't believe me neither."

"We'll believe you Mr. Patterson, now tell us what happened," Gideon said with a small smile.

"It was a cop."

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Danny ran down the hallway towards the locker room. She wasn't there either. He turned and ran straight into Adam.

"Hey Danny, where's the fire?"

"Where's Lindsay, have you seen her, I have to find her."

"Whoa Danny, take a breath before you pass out."

"Have you seen her," Danny demanded.

"No, not since earlier this morning, what…" But Danny was moving down the hall and didn't hear him.

"Jeez, I wonder what's goin on now. No one ever tells me anything," he watched Danny round the corner and disappear out of sight. "Shit, when am I going to be the first to know things, instead of the last?"

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Stella awoke with a start. She looked out the window, and noticed that the sun was going down. Her neck was so badly cramped, she could hardly turn her head. She looked around, and realized she was still in Don's hospital room. There he was, still sleeping, still attached to IV's and still looking pale and drawn. God, she'd hoped it was all a dream.

"Don, I'm still here, I'm still waiting for you to wake up."

She searched his face for any sign that he was surfacing from unconsciousness. "Come on Don, you gotta wake up, please."

She put her head on her hands, and began to cry again. She hadn't cried like this since Frankie had tried to kill her. She didn't want to cry, she was a woman of action.

"Damn it Don, stop being a lazy ass and open your eyes." She was pacing the room with her arms crossed, damned if she was going to let him stay checked out for the duration.

"You think this is funny don't you. You get to lay there and do nothing and leave the detective work to us. Well that won't fly Detective. Get up and do your job, Don. She didn't realize she was shouting until a dark haired nurse came into the room. She was as tall as Stella and her black eyes flashed.

"Excuse me, miss but if you can't keep it down, I'll have to ask you to leave."

Stella glared at her for a long moment and then she began to cry again. The nurse enveloped her in a hug. "Hey, he's going to be okay. His vitals are good, and he had one of the best surgeons in the city work on him. Come on and sit down." She led Stella over to the chair and pushed her down.

"Ma'am, I know you want him to wake up, but shouting won't make it happen any faster, ok. You gotta be quiet or I'll have to ask you to leave."

"You can't tell Stella Bonasera what to do," a weak voice said from behind them.

Stella and the nurse jumped in surprise. Stella didn't want to look, maybe it was a hallucination. It couldn't be. The nurse was now bending over Don, and asking him how he felt, if he wanted any water. All Stella could do was stare at him. He was awake, he was looking at her with those baby blue eyes that always made her knees go to jelly.

"I'll get the doctor in here right away," The nurse promised. She walked out of the room, leaving Stella to continue gaping at Don.

"Hey, you gonna stare at me, or do I get a kiss, " Don said weakly.

"Donald Flack, you scared the hell out of me, what makes you think I'm going to kiss you now, or anytime in the next century." She grabbed a container of water, and held the straw to his lips. He sucked greedily, and she had to smile.

"See… you can't resist me," Flack said after releasing the straw. The water tasted wonderful, like ambrosia.

"Oh, I can resist you, but you're sick so I might cut you a break if you tell me what the hell happened to you."

"Well, I get that I'm in the hospital again. Was it another bomb?"

"No baby, it wasn't a bomb."

He looked so confused that ice crept into Stella's heart. If he didn't remember who shot him, where would they go from here?


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again to all who faithfully review. All feed back is welcome.**

"Hey Stel, what did I say?"

Sighing, Stella wondered how she was going to help him remember. He'd done it for her once, but he'd also had the team processing a multitude of tangible evidence to help him. All she had was a silent prayer to whatever deity ran the universe that the fog would lift from his brain, and he would give them a detailed description, down to the man's shoe size, and his home address.

"It's alright Don… just rest, you have to get your strength back."

"Stel… what's wrong with you, I heard you yellin at me just before I woke up, telling me ta get up off my lazy ass. Now you're all sweetness and light. I don't buy it Detective."

He pinned her to her chair with his eyes. It was the same look she'd seen a hundred times in the interrogation room. The one that warned a suspect to tell the truth or there would be hell to pay. Fortunately for her, he could only threaten with his eyes, backing it up would be impossible.

"Don't look at me like that Don; you're too weak to scare me."

"Damn it… I can see somethin's wrong, what is it?"

Should she tell him that Peyton was in the hands of a serial killer? It would only upset him. "I don't know what you're talking about; I'm just upset that you're in this bed. I have a job to do you know, I can't be here babysitting you."

"Please don't lie to me Stel! I can't take that on top of bein in this stupid hospital bed!"

"Don I promise you -"

"Stop it… has something happened to Peyton?" It was a shot in the dark but it hit its mark. Stella flinched as if slapped.

"I'm right aren't I, somethin happened to the doc. Tell me Stel, or I'll get out of the this bed and -"

"Okay baby… stop with the dramatics already" She pushed him back against his pillows.

"Besides you're too weak to fight off an overly affectionate kitten. What makes you think you can take me out?" She kissed his cheek.

"Don't try to butter me up with a kiss, it won't work!"

"Yes it will," she said, knowing he was right.

"I can't remember anythin except takin the doc up to the crime scene. Then it's just a blank. Help me fill in the gaps Stella… please."

How could she resist those blue eyes? Did it matter when they needed to know everything about his last moments with the ME? She heaved another long sigh and said, "Don, you were shot and Peyton was kidnapped, we think it was the same person, but we don't have any evidence. We hoped you could tell us."

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Danny rocketed down the hall and around the corner to interrogation. He slid to a stop when he saw Lindsay standing there with the feebs. She was okay. She was standing there in profile, looking more beautiful than the first time he saw her. She was alright! _Come on Messer, did you really think someone had kidnapped her too? _

His heart began to slow down from a frantic racing beat to a slow steady thump in his chest. He walked as calmly as he could to her side. He refused to make a fool of himself by letting the feebs see how upset he was.

"Hey Montana, what's goin on?"

He slipped an arm around her and looked into her lovely brown eyes. Relief continued to course through him like life's blood.

"Danny why are you up, you've only been asleep for an hour?"

He didn't care if she chastised him, he only cared that she was there and breathing, not in a bloody heap on a café floor.

"I'm fine, I don't need to sleep, and I need ta work the case. Who's da weasel in interrogation?" He hoped she would be distracted, she wasn't.

"Never mind about Mickey Patterson, I want you to go home you're exhausted."

"No, I ain't leavin till we find Peyton."

"Danny please… you need some sleep. Why don't we go get something to eat?"

He knew she hoped that getting him out of the building would get him home to bed. He decided to play along, for now.

"Okay, but I get to pick the restaurant."

She held out a hand to him, "Come on big guy I'm starved and so is the baby. He watched her say goodbye to the agents. He ignored them. He and Lindsay turned back the way he'd come to take the elevator.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reid watched the exchange between the two CSI's. He didn't mean to overhear their conversation, but it wasn't easy to ignore.

"Wow, Detective Messer looked freaked out, I wonder why?"

Reid was constantly amazed at the way JJ read people. She could've been a profiler if she wanted to but she turned down Hotch's offer to take the tests.

"Yeah he was," he answered, taking her hand now that the hallway was empty. He rubbed a finger over her thumb enjoying the way her warm soft skin felt under his.

"Don't start," she said quietly.

He ignored her and continued to stroke her hand. It didn't bother her as much as it did him to show affection in public. He was trying to overcome that particular hang up.

Then he realized she was watching the exchange in the room more intently than he previously thought. "Hey, what is it?"

"I think they finally got something useful out of Mr. Patterson."

Reid looked back into the interrogation room and noticed that Gideon was smiling.

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"We know there were cops in Nickel's apartment Patterson, now stop talking in circles and give us something to help you."

"I'm not talkin about the beat cops, or the detective. The man that took the pretty doc away was a cop. He had the same uniform as the cops that left just before he came down the hall."

"You better not be yanking my chain Mickey!"

"Naw, but I tole ya, you wouldn't believe me. Ya all take care of each other. He waggled his eyebrows and Mac wanted to slap him.

"If it was a cop, he'll go down for this," Mac said taking the seat across from Mickey.

"Naw you guys protect each other, I tell you what he looks like and I wake up dead tomorrow."

"No one is going to kill you Mickey, the best way for you to stay safe is to talk to us," Gideon said.

Patterson's eyes darted back and forth between the two men. The older one wasn't a real cop, maybe he could be trusted.

"I'll talk to the FBI guy, but you have to leave," he said pointing to Mac, earning himself a scowl from the cop. That was okay at least a dirty look couldn't kill you.

"I'm not leaving this room!"

"Detective Taylor, please leave us alone for a moment," Gideon asked.

Mac looked at Morgan then at Gideon, and then he slammed out of the room. Gideon turned back to Patterson, the smile gone from his face. Morgan sat down on the other side of the small man and scowled at him. He placed the crime scene photo's in front Mickey and they watched the man squeeze his eyes shut.

"Mickey, look at the photos!" Morgan's voice cut through the air like a whip.

"I didn't kill no one; it was a cop I swear on my mother's grave."

"I believe you Mickey, but you've got to give us more."

Mickey sighed and said to the older agent. "He was tall, blond and he wore a cop's uniform. I was comin outta my place when I saw him comin outta Nickels place. He was carryin a pretty dark haired lady. She wasn't movin and I thought she was dead. I didn't say nothin but he saw me. He said not to say anythin, or he'd kill me, if I didn't get busted for shootin the other cop. He called me by my name, but I swear I ain't never seen him before."

"What did you do then Mickey, why didn't you call 911?"

Mickey repeated to Morgan what he'd said before. "I tole ya, he said he'd kill me. Then I went to the apartment and I saw the other cop in a pool of blood. I went back to my place and just after that I heard the other cops come back, and then all hell broke loose and there were paramedics and all kinds of other cops hangin around, so I took off out the fire escape."

"Mickey, will you sit with a sketch artist?"

"I didn't see his face man. He never looked at me, he just knew I was there, he called back over his shoulder that I should shut up or I'd be dead."

Gideon sighed inwardly, he'd been afraid this would be the guy's response. "Don't lie to me Mickey, you just said you'd never seen him before, how do you know that if you didn't see his face."

"I never seen no cop's that tall except that dark haired one that got shot."

"I don't believe you Mickey, "Morgan snapped.

"You gotta let me go; you ain't got nothin on me."

"I don't think so; we've got you on resisting arrest, so you'll stay here till you decide to cooperate."

"I want a lawyer!"

Gideon stood and left the room followed by Morgan. They'd book him and maybe his lawyer would get him out, maybe he wouldn't. By the time the lawyer could do more than threaten the NYPD with false arrest action, maybe Patterson would change his mind.

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Doctor Smith walked into the family waiting room. "Agents, Detective Flack is awake." He held up his hand to stop them when they got eagerly to their feet.

"He's still very weak. I was just in there with him, and I can tell you that he doesn't remember the last fifteen minutes before the shooting, which is common in trauma victims. Now, his memory might come back quickly or it could take a few days, or it might not come back at all. I don't want you to harass him about it. Go to your hotel and get some rest. You can see him tomorrow."

"Dr. Smith, we have a killer and a kidnapper to catch, we need all the information we can get at this point to help us with a profile," Hotch stated.

"I realize that Agent Hotchner, but I won't have my patient disturbed. Now Detective Bonasera is with him. My first impression of her tells me that she is the one best suited to help him, besides she loves him, she won't push him unless it's absolutely necessary. I can't say the same for you now can I?"

"You're good at reading people Dr. Smith, have you ever thought about becoming a profiler?" Hotch gave him a rare smile and Dr Smith said, "Are you kidding, your hours are worse than mine, I think I'll pass."

He left the room and Emily turned to Hotch, "We can't just leave, we have to talk to the witness."

"Sometimes you have to pick your battles Prentiss, this is one of those times when pushing does more harm than good, besides he's right when he said that Detective Bonasera can get more information than we can."

Emily grinned at him and said, "She's quite an interesting woman, isn't she."

"That was very diplomatically put, Agent. Are you practicing to become an ambassador like your mother?" He smiled again, twice in one night, that must be some kind of record.

"No way sir, too much traveling," she said archly and they left the hospital in companionable silence.

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Mac pounced as soon as the agents left the interrogation room. "What the hell is going on, what gives you the right to ask me to leave the room."

"Detective, Mickey Patterson is terrified of this un-sub. He is convinced the man is a cop. He didn't see us as real law enforcement and I knew I could use that to make him trust me and he has."

"So you're telling me if we keep him here, he'll crack and give us a description," Mac asked, hope coloring his voice.

"Yes, if his lawyer doesn't spring him, but even if that happens, we can keep an eye on him."

Mac protested, "But if his lawyer springs him, how will we find the killer?"

Gideon smiled again, "Detective Taylor, the un-sub wants you. This whole thing is about you, that's why he let Patterson see him and it's why he took your lover. Now, why don't you tell me what you know about all of this?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note:** _Hey here's the next chapter. It looks like the alerts aren't working again. Anyway thanks to all who have reviewed and I hope if you like this you'll let me know. Thanks to everyone whose added this to their alerts or favorites! As always I accept all types of feed back and I will respond to your review. Flames will be tossed in the duck pond outside my door._

Gideon, Reid and JJ followed by Morgan and Mac, entered the conference room that was their "headquarters" for the duration of their stay in New York.

They took thier places around the table. Gideon observed the way that Mac settled into his chair and refused to make eye contact. The only thing that seemed to interest him was the photo of the playing card found at the latest scene.

"Detective Taylor, we know that Mickey Patterson isn't the un-sub. He's just a frightened low life who's a little paranoid. The man we are looking for is between 30 and 50 years old. He is controlled and methodical, he isn't psychotic. "

"The playing card is a clue, but it's misleading because we don't believe he's a soldier. He may have been at one time, but it's more likely he's involved in law enforcement," Reid added, ignoring the slow burn rising in Mac's face.

"He has a beef with you detective. He kidnapped your lover, he taunts you with the death card, and he knows that you were in the military and that the ace of spades frightens you" Morgan finished.

"So that's it… you're all convinced that Patterson is right and a cop did all of this?"

"He has an intimate knowledge of your procedures and he knew what type of evidence we'd look for. I believe that he knows Patterson. He knew they had bad blood between them. He knew when Patterson would be home. The fact that he was seen by Patterson was a happy coincidence. Make no mistake, he knew that Mickey would hear the shot and find Detective Flack."

"He's been watching you and he knows about your relationship with the ME. He planned all of this so that he could take her and put enormous pressure on you. He wants something from you and he will make a demand of you, which he knows you'll comply with to save her life. What you have to do is figure out how you know him, and what happened in the past to set him on this path of revenge." Morgan explained, ignoring Mac's scowl in his direction.

"How do I know what I've done, I've been a CSI for more than twenty years, do you know how many cases I have been involved in?"

"We have to start with the ones involving the military, or any cops, "Gideon said. "Right now we're going to take a break; my people need rest and so do yours. We'll start again in the morning."

"You can take off if you want, but I'm not sleeping until Peyton is safe."

Gideon knew it was useless to argue with the man and truthfully, he would have taken the same attitude if he were the detective.

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Gideon's team headed to the hotel, and ran into Hotch and Emily entering the lobby. JJ had reserved the rooms this time. She got them all separate accommodations except for herself and Reid. Reid watched while waiting for the elevator as Morgan, Hotch and Gideon argued over who had the room next to him and JJ.

They were still arguing when the doors closed. He began to chuckle, and had to explain his laughter to JJ He told her what Emily had said to Morgan on the plane, and it was her turn to blush

"So who do you think gets the room next to us this time?"

"If Morgan gets his way it won't be him," Reid said.

"Well… we're in a nicer hotel this time; maybe the walls are a little thicker."

"Still, it would be a good idea for Morgan to invest in some ear plugs don't you think," Reid said as he stuck the card key in the reader, getting it in upside down as usual.

"I hate these damn cards, why can't we go back to old fashioned keys," JJ said irritably.

"When the hotel industry changed over to card keys the instances of robbery in rooms went down 37 percent as compared to old style keys."

JJ glared at him, "You really do have a statistic for everything, don't you?"

"Ah - no not really," he answered going pink in the face.

He entered the room and flipped on the lights when she followed him inside. They dropped their bags on the floor next the TV stand. He saw that the room was decorated in what JJ liked to call Modern Hotel Ugly. This meant there was a horrid floral bedspread on the bed that clashed with the beige carpet. The curtains were yellow. There was a table in one corner with three chairs standing around it.

Spencer was removing his tie when he noticed JJ standing there nylons in one hand, and a faraway look in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He put his hands on her face and looked down into the depths of those wonderful blue eyes. They made his heart pound. He felt like he'd just run a mile, but he wouldn't trade this breathless feeling for anything.

"I was just thinking that…"

"What is it, honey?" She reached up and twined one hand into his hair, her touch accelerated his heart rate again.

"Well, you saw Detective Messer; he was really upset about something. I could tell that he really loves Detective Monroe, and she mentioned a baby…"

"Jen… are you trying to tell me you want a baby!" Damn… here he was trying to be supportive, and his voice was squeaking like hinges in need of oil.

"What… no of course not!"

"Jen…"

"Okay, maybe a little, I have to admit the thought of a little Spence running around is appealing."

_Okay Spencer don't panic, just explain to her the many reasons having a baby right now is a really bad idea._

"Honey, I know that the picture of domestic bliss presented by the detectives is pretty tempting but I don't think that right now is…" He trailed off watching her closely, her eyes were dancing and he could swear she was silently laughing at him.

"Jennifer Jareau, are you laughing at me."

"Oh babe, the look on your face, I nearly wet my pants trying not to laugh."

He released her and began to pull off his sweater vest. He should have known she was teasing and he fell for it. His face was burning and he tried to hide it by turning his back on her.

Her arms came around his waist and she said "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't mean to tease. Why didn't you tell me you've been thinking about having a child?"

_Damn, how does she do that? I have to convince her to become a profiler; she's great at reading people. _He thought all this with a rush of pride that soothed his embarrassment.

"I haven't been thinking about it!"

"Spencer!"

"Okay, but only since an hour ago."

"I'm not sure I believe you, anyway baby lust isn't the reason I'm upset."

"Oh… what's got you down?" He pulled off his shirt and folded it neatly and placed it on top of the sweater vest. He sat down, pulled off his shoes and his usual mismatched socks.

"I feel left out, that's all."

"Why," he asked as she sat down on the bed and stared at his bare chest.

"I don't have a cute nickname like Montana."

"So, you want me to call you Pennsylvania, because that's pretty silly." He kissed her cheek, and moved closer to open the buttons on her blouse.

"No, that would be crazy!"

"How about Penn," he asked; one hand pushed her long hair out of the way, as he kissed her pulse point.

"That's too confusing, we already have a Penn." He pushed the light lavender blouse off her shoulders. She pushed it away and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Okay, what about Keystone," he licked her collarbone and she sighed closing her eyes when he pushed her back on bed.

"You can do better than that Spence." He pulled away from her and opened his bag of toiletries. Pulling out a condom he took off his cords and briefs. She stopped him from opening the packaging and pulled it out of his hand.

"Let me do that," He flinched and his heart rate soared at the touch of her hands. Little shock waves of pleasure were cresting through his belly, making him light headed again.

Her arms pulled him down on top of her and he realized he'd forgotten how to breathe or think coherently. His hand slid up her thigh and under her black skirt. She lifted her hips and he slid her black lace thong down to the floor. Her skirt followed while his mouth found a breast and she moaned loudly when his teeth grazed a nipple.

"Spencer, please!"

He released her breast and moved up the length of her body, his hard throbbing length brushing the inside of her thigh. "What do you want my sweet, a cute nickname or me."

"You… I want you inside me now Spence."

He slid his hands under her ass and lifted her hips, crying out her name when he joined his body to hers in familiar and sweet agony.

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Mac sat at his desk flipping through the case files and trying to remember something that he'd done or come across in an investigation. He tossed a case file to the floor, damn it… how was he supposed to find this "un-sub" as the feds put it. He'd been on the job for two decades. How was he supposed to remember every criminal or suspect he might have pissed off?

He was back to pacing the room again when he realized he'd probably pissed them all off. There must be hundreds of enemies for him to choose from, and he didn't even know where to start.

The door to his office opened without a knock, and Danny Messer entered with a very angry looking Lindsay Monroe.

"Did you forget how to knock Messer?"

"Where the hell is everyone Mac," Danny asked, completely ignoring his boss's question.

"Danny!" Lindsay scolded him, and he ignored her too.

"The agents are gone, and I want you two out of here as well."

"Mac, come on just because the feebs have to be in before nine doesn't mean that -"

"God damn it Danny, would you listen to me for once in your life. Go home, you've been up for nearly two days straight, you can hardly stand up. I need your brain fresh if we're going to find the son of a bitch that did this to Flack and Peyton. Besides, if you stay here then so will Lindsay and you know the doctor told her to avoid stress and get rest, so go home."

"Listen to him Danny, God knows you won't listen to me," Lindsay said looking ready to seriously hurt the father of her child.

"Fine, if you two are gonna gang up on me, I'll go home, but I'm takin one of these with me." He grabbed at one of the case files. Mac was too quick for him and he snatched them out of the younger man's reach.

"I said go home Danny!"

"Mac-"

"I said no, we're not doing Peyton any good standing here fighting. Go get some sleep. We'll begin again tomorrow."

"Fine… great… fuckin fantastic." Danny turned and slammed out the door without waiting for Lindsay.

"Are you going to take your own advice _sir?" _

Mac shook his head. "Ok, see you in the morning." Lindsay touched his arm briefly and then she was gone.

He dropped back down in his chair and put his head in his hands.

He jerked awake two hours later when the phone rang.

"_Detective Taylor," _said a mechanically altered voice.

Mac sat up ramrod straight in his chair, was this the bastard who had Peyton?

"Where's Peyton, you son of a bitch, tell me now and maybe I won't kill you when -'

"_Stop fucking around and listen to me Detective! I left another offering for you in Strawberry fields. I hope you enjoy processing her." _

The phone went dead.


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note:** _Thanks to everyone for their feedback and their suggestions. I appreciate everyone who's reading even though the alerts aren't working. Please review if you like the story or if you don't let me know._

She watched him arrow the SUV into its parking space in front of the apartment building, and get out into the night, slamming the truck door. He jogged to the door, unlocked it and entered the building without looking back.

She sat there fuming. She thought she was used to his hot temper and his tantrums, but he was acting like a child, and now he had forgotten she was in the car. Well… she'd just remain where she was. She refused to chase after him and beg him to confide in her.

She watched the light come on in the living room and she waited. The night was cool but not unbearably so. Her eyes looked unseeingly into the light of the oncoming traffic. Maybe they had made a mistake. After all, they barely knew each other when the shit hit the fan at home, and then she'd pushed him aside to deal with it. In the heat of getting through that perhaps she'd made a mistake taking him into her childhood bed. God knew it had been fantastic, better than her wildest fantasies, but maybe it had happened too fast. They'd never gone out on a proper date, they'd just come back to New York, and spent every waking minute together, and now she was pregnant with his baby

Oh how she loved his child, and she loved the father of her child too, but when he acted like a jackass, she wondered what she'd ever seen in him. She sighed and looked back at the door to the apartment, and nearly screamed in surprise. He was standing next to the window staring at her with such a look of misery, that she immediately forgot all of her doubts.

She opened the door and got out. He took her hand and led her up the stairs to their apartment. As soon as the door was closed, he was on her, kissing her like he hadn't kissed her since - well ever actually. His breath was hot on her neck, and she shivered at the sensation. He smelled like coffee, and the pizza they'd had for dinner. They were smells she'd come to associate with him and she felt herself getting wet.

She didn't try to talk to him; you couldn't talk to him when he was like this. When he lifted her into his arms, her mouth went dry and her heart began to race. He strode quickly into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He stood for a long time just looking at her, and her heart beat so fast her face began to flush. Her hands were sweating. She didn't know how it was possible, but it seemed like one moment he was looking at her and the next their clothes were on the floor, and she was taken over by him. She came so fast and hard that mere screams couldn't do it justice, so she whimpered and lay there shuddering underneath him.

He rolled off her and when she turned to look at him, she saw tears rolling down his cheeks. She felt a fear greater than any she'd known well up inside of her. What had happened, he never cried, at least not over trivial things?

She brushed away a tear and he captured her hand in his. "I'm sorry Montana, did I hurt you?"

"God, no… it was wonderful, or didn't I make that clear enough for you cowboy."

When this remark didn't earn her a smile, she said fearfully. "Danny what's wrong, you've been so angry all day today. Why don't you want to sleep?"

He got out of bed and strode up and down the room. "I'm fine Montana; I just want ta work the case and find Peyton. The feebs don't seem ta be helpin us at all."

"Be straight with me Danny, what's really bothering you?"

"I just tole ya what's botherin me."

"No you didn't, please Danny; I thought we were done hiding from each other."

That stopped him. He approached her side of the bed and she scooted over. He got back into the bed, and she kissed his cheek.

"Please tell me why you're hurting baby. I can't stand to see you like this."

So he told her everything, the terrible nightmare in vivid detail, and her heart broke for him. "Honey, nothing happened to me. I'm here with you and so is the baby, we ain't goin nowhere. She said this last bit in a pretty fair imitation of his accent and finally he laughed.

"That was a lousy Staten Island drawl Montana; you better work on it before I take ya to da old neighborhood."

She pretended to be offended, but inside she relaxed at bit. "I'm sorry," he said his mouth against her shoulder, sending new shivers through her abdomen. "I couldn't bear it if anythin happened to you or junior."

"Nothing will happen to us, I can take care of myself, and I have a great looking guy from Staten Island to watch my back."

"Always, he murmured, pushing her back on the bed and this time it was sweet, slow and wonderful.

Afterwards, he slept and she was the one who lay awake thinking. She looked once more at his careworn face before wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes. She cursed loudly when her cell phone rang 30 minutes later.

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Emily was dozing lightly in the tub when her cell phone rang from its perch on the counter. She turned off the I pod she'd been listening to on low and sighed, so much for a few minutes of relaxation.

"Prentiss," she said testily.

"We need you downstairs in fifteen minutes Agent Prentiss; there's been another related murder."

"Ok sir, I'll be right down."

Damn it why did the psychos always strike after eleven o'clock. Why couldn't they sleep like everyone else?

She got out of the tub, dried off and grabbed her robe. She pulled it on and turned to drain the tub. It had been fun while it lasted.

She entered the main room and began to dress. Somehow that nice relaxed feeling after a long soak in the tub was lost when you had to get dressed and go back out again. She snatched her badge and gun off the small table at one end of the room, and pulled on a lightweight jacket. She stopped halfway out the door realizing how quiet it was. She went to the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. It was going to be another long night.

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JJ exited the bathroom in a cloud of perfumed steam. She loved a good long hot shower, and she was looking forward to a nice long night's sleep. Spencer was already down for the count, laying on his back his arms thrown out to each side of him.

Despite what Morgan may say, they seldom stayed up all night making love while on a case. It was usually the truly brutal ones that prompted them to lose control of their hormones. This wasn't a particularly brutal case, but the sex had been frantic none the less. Which meant something other than the case was bothering Spence.

"Are you going to stand there staring into space, or are you coming back to bed."

She blinked, started in surprise, and looked down to see Spencer watching her.

"I thought you were asleep, babe."

"I know… but I can't tonight… not without you, come back to bed."

His tone was scaring her; Spencer was not the clingy type. She shed her robe and climbed back into bed, scooting up to him and tangling her legs with his. He wrapped his arms around her and she said, "Spill it Reid!"

"What, I just want to hold you, that's all."

"Uh huh… I know that look, what's wrong. Is this about the conversation we had earlier. If you really want to have a baby we can talk about it."

"No, that's not it. I mean, sure I'd like to make a baby with you one day, but not now."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"I'm scared; I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You mean, like something happened to Dr. Driscoll?"

He flushed and refused to meet her eyes. "I know it's silly but Detective Taylor loves her so much and look what happened. What if the un-sub decides to kill her?"

"You can't do anything at this precise moment to stop him, so stop torturing yourself. You guys will catch him, you always do."

"Hey… what's this 'you'll catch him you always do,' you're part of the team too, you know. Stop talking like we do all the work. He reached up and brushed a piece of hair from her forehead as he spoke.

She kissed him and he pulled her down on top of him once more. His hands tangled in her hair and his lips found her neck.

Her cell phone beeped and he groaned into her hair. "Don't answer it babe."

"You know we can't ignore it. What if something's happened with the case," she said.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

She slapped him lightly on the shoulder, and turned over to snatch her phone off the bedside table.

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Mac heard the FBI approach the new crime scene. He said to Gideon without turning around. "He killed a woman this time. What do you make of that?" Gideon crouched near the body.

She lay face up on the grass, which was greening up nicely after the snows melted. Mac thought maybe spring was here to stay and that knowledge made seeing this body all the more hideous. Hotch hunkered down beside Gideon.

"He took the eyes and cut her throat, but there's no sign of post mortem beating or stabbing this time."

"I know, he spent less time with her, and he crossed the gender line."

"He wants to make a point."

Gideon smiled at Aaron; it was a terrible smile, full of rage.

"Yeah, this is a pretty bold message, I'd say."

Mac was only half listening to the profilers. He was trying to do his job, but all he could think about was this wasn't Peyton. The relief he felt was so great he felt lightheaded and strangely euphoric. He knew he should feel pity for this woman; she'd been used to get to him if only for a few minutes.

As he went through her purse and looked at her ID, he realized that there were similarities to someone else he cared for that tempered his excitement and he felt angry again. What kind of person did such a thing? He moved his light down the woman's body, and noticed a piece of white paper underneath her left arm.

"Agent Gideon, take a look at this."

He held his light steady while Hotch and Gideon rolled the body on its side and Mac pulled an envelope sealed in a plastic bag out from under the body. His name was printed in block letters on the front of the envelope.

"Mac, what's goin on?" Danny asked as he and Lindsay snapped on gloves and walked toward the body.

"It's not Peyton; her ID says her name is Claire Pearlman. She's the same age as Claire was when she died."

"Jesus, Mac you gotta be shittin me. This bastard is one sick puppy."

"Yeah, that's why I got you two out of bed. I need your help on this one." The guilt he felt at dragging Danny out of bed after less than two hours was outweighed by the fact that he knew the younger man hadn't wanted to go home anyway. Still, people need rest and this man wasn't going to let them have it.

"Who's Claire," Reid asked as he studied the face of the woman.

"She was my wife; she was in the world trade center on 911."

"Oh… Ah - sorry I didn't… He flushed red and looked so guilty that Mac smiled at him.

"It's ok Dr Reid, it took me a long time, but I'm over the hurt."

"Morgan, get over to the hospital and see if Detective Flack can remember anything. We need to find this un-sub before he picks another surrogate to kill." Hotch said over his shoulder.

"Come on Mac let me go talk to Flack, instead of the -"

Lindsay elbowed Danny in the ribs and he glared at her. "What the hell!"

"Don't say what you were just thinking."

"How do you know what I was thinkin?"

Mac watched her roll her eyes and he almost laughed. He needed a laugh and maybe when this was over he'd take Peyton to a movie or an off Broadway play, as long as it was a comedy. No thrillers or horror movies after this.

"Danny please, just get this back to the lab. It looks like it might be a DVD or CD and if it is a recording, maybe we'll finally know what this bastard wants.

Danny snatched the envelope from Mac, bagged it and took off back to his SUV with Lindsay in tow. Mac saw the glances the FBI agents were giving each other and he said almost nonchalantly.

"Sorry, Danny Messer takes a bit of getting used to, but there's no one better for the job. He and Lindsay Monroe are one of the best CSI teams I have. If there's something to find, those two will find it."

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Everyone was back in the conference room and hour later. JJ remained behind at the scene trying to deal with the media that had landed with flashing camera bulbs, microphones and lousy attitudes. Reid continued to be amazed at the way she manipulated the press to help them. She'd have the tip hotlines buzzing by dawn.

He sat down last at the foot of the table and Emily was next to him. "Did you get any sleep," she asked with a knowing look or at least it looked knowing to him."

"Yeah, a little how about you?"

"No, I was in the middle of a lovely soak in the tub and listening to Berlioz. His Symphonia Fantastique is awesome."

"Say did you know that piece of music has been used in at least two scary movies, it -"

"Guys… you with us," Hotch said his eyebrows low over his eyes when he looked at them.

"Yes sir," they chorused and Hawkes tried not to laugh at Hotch's tone.

"There weren't no fingerprints on the envelope or on the DVD inside. I haven't seen it yet. I thought ya might want ta see it with the profilers" Danny said. He left off feebs but spoke with a clear dismissal in his voice.

"Yeah, let's see what this nutcase has to say."


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note:** _Thanks once again to all who've read this and reviewed or put the story on their alerts. Not that the alerts are working. Anyway here's the next chapter and remember feedback is a gift so push the button when you are done and let me know what you think. _

He didn't hate hospitals like Reid did; he just saw them as a necessary evil in this world. They were simply a place to go to when you had wounds that didn't heal on their own. He wished they were more attractive to look at, and that they smelled better, but you couldn't have everything.

Speaking of having everything, he wondered as he got onto the elevator if it wasn't time for him to try that out in his own life. Sure he had his precious freedom and a job he loved. He could go out any weekend he was home and carouse with his buddies, or find a willing babe for some lovin, but lately it was beginning to wear thin.

The truth was that he was a thirty year old guy who still acted like he was in college. He didn't know when it had begun to change, but recently he'd started to crave the things his father had, a home, a wife and yes even a child. He watched the people around him obtain all he wanted, and it tore into him like the bite of a particularly vicious attack dog. It wasn't right that nerdy Dr Reid had an adoring and beautiful woman to love, and who loved him in return. Where had he gone wrong that his best friend had these things and he didn't? His phone beeped as the elevator doors opened and he smiled.

"_Hey baby-girl, don't you ever go home?"_

"_My babies need me here," she flung back at him._

"_What ya got for me gorgeous?"_

"_I found out some interesting things about our victims. Charlie Yu grew up in New York. His older brother was a Marine. His name was Robert. He was killed in Beirut in 1983. _

"_Okay, what else," Morgan leaned against one wall while he listened to Garcia._

"_The second victim was Moses Johnson, also a native of New York. He attended Jackson High school and stayed out of trouble. His older brother Martin was the black sheep of the family, a gang member with a rap sheet the length of my arm. He was killed in a shootout with police seven years ago. One of the cops was Detective Taylor._

"_Did Mac Taylor happen to be the one to kill Johnson's brother?"_

"_You win the cracker jack prize sweetheart. He was processing a scene at a convenience store that the gang robbed and Johnson came back, supposedly to retrieve a weapon one of the newer gang members dropped in a panic. And you can guess how it went from there, sweetie."_

"_Yeah, baby girl I guess I can."_

"_The last victim, Timothy Nickels, wasn't a pillar of society. He was arrested twice by Detective Flack for assault and each time Detective Taylor's team worked the scene."_

"_Does Nickels happen to have a brother?"_

"_You see… I love it when you read my mind sugar."_

"_Oh baby, if you only knew. Now tell me about Nickels brother. _

"_He's alive and well and living in Connecticut."_

"_Thanks doll, I owe you."_

"_Yes you do, and one of these days I'm going to collect."_

"_Okay baby," he shut his phone and pushed off the wall._

His feet took him to Detective Flacks room, but his mind was elsewhere. Maybe it was time for him to acknowledge how he'd been feeling about a certain blond hacker.

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Stella dozed lightly in the chair next to Flacks hospital bed. They'd talked until the doctor kicked her out and told her to let him get some rest. She'd just come back from grabbing some junk food and coffee. Don was asleep and she began to think that maybe she should just go home. She wanted to stay with him, but she was so tired.

Her phone beeped and she frowned. If Mac were calling it must not be good news. _"Bonasera!"_

"_Stella, we got another victim."_

"_Great, where are you?"_

"_I don't want you out here; I have enough help with the profilers. I just wanted to warn you that one of them is on the way to question Flack._

"_But Mac, it's late, he's asleep."_

"_I know that, but we don't have a choice. The perp left us a DVD; I think he's ready to make his demands."_

"_I've been talking to Don and he doesn't remember what happened."_

'_Stella please let Agent Morgan try, maybe he can help Don."_

"_Okay Mac, you're right. How are you holding up?"_

"_I'm okay… just tired of this guy's game. He killed a woman Stella, and made me think for just a moment that it was Peyton. I was never as scared in my life as I was driving down here to the scene."_

"_It wasn't her."_

"_No but the victim's name is Claire, and she's the same age as Claire was when she died."_

"_Jesus Mac, what kind of sicko are we dealing with?"_

"_I don't know… that's why we need all we can get from Flack."_

"_Okay, just call me if you need me."_

"_Thanks Stel." _

She closed her phone and turned back to Flack. There was a short knock on the door and a tall, well muscled black man entered the room.

"I'm SSA Derek Morgan," he said softly to her.

"Detective Stella Bonasera, you got here fast Agent Morgan, I just got off the phone with Mac. I know you need to talk to Don, but he's asleep right now. He doesn't need you to interrogate him."

"How about we let him, speak for himself," Flack said a little groggily from his hospital bed.

Stella whipped around and saw him smiling at her, his face pale and his eyes a little cloudy.

"Detective, I'm Agent Morgan. Can you remember anything about what happened to you, anything at all?"

"I'm sorry but I can't remember much after I took the doc up to the scene."

"Think about what you were doing at the crime scene. Were you facing the room, or was your back to the door."

"I hope you're not implyin I wasn't doin my job."

Morgan rolled his eyes, "No man, I'm just trying to get a sense of what happened."

Flack was quiet for a very long time, and then he said, "I remember the smell. I was near the door tryin to get some air but that wasn't workin too good. The doc was goin over the body, and there were two uniforms with us. A call came in, officer needs assistance, and I told them to respond."

Stella locked eyes with him and she knew what he was going to say. "Don, this is not your fault."

"He thinks it is. I can see it in his eyes." Flack replied.

Well this was not to be allowed, no one was going to question Flack's abilities while she was there to put a stop to it.

"Is that true Agent Morgan, do you think he made a bad choice?"

"No, I don't, you're both putting words in my mouth and I haven't said anything."

"We were the closest to the call, we had to respond."

"You had to respond Detective," Stella heard the emphasis on you and was about to tell him to back off when Flack responded.

"I didn't want ta leave, if that's what you're sayin!"

"I want you to leave now, you're upsetting him." She wanted to call someone to throw this guy out, who did he think he was?

Morgan held up his hands and she could see he was struggling to hold in his temper. Well good, these profilers thought they had all the answers. She would just see about that!

"I'm not trying to say anything, you guys are so touchy. Would you settle down and let me help you!"

Stella threw up her hands and said, "Fine, but you better not tire him out, he needs to rest."

"Stel… stop talkin about me like I'm not here."

"Don, I just want to -"

"I know and I appreciate the whole lioness guarding her cub thing you got goin on, but if you don't mind, I'd like to argue with Agent Morgan in peace.

"Fine… I'll just go get some coffee.

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Morgan watched her leave the room. She was one beautiful woman and quite a spitfire. "So detective, do you know how lucky you are." He gestured after Stella.

"Yeah I do, but let's get back to the crime scene."

"Okay man, just making an observation. So you were watching the ME do her thing and what happened next?"

He watched the detective gather his thoughts, "We found a dark hair at the scene that wasn't Dr Driscoll's and it isn't yours, it belongs to a low life named Mickey Patterson.

He saw surprise and then anger flit across Flack's face. "Is that who did all this, that little shit. I musta busted him five times in the last year for petty stuff. Neva thought he was capable of murder or kidnappin."

"He's not the one we're looking for but he did see who shot you. Right now he isn't cooperating and his lawyer will spring him quick since we aren't charging him with anything."

"I remember the doc said somethin about the slashin of his throat, and there was a creakin noise, but the whole buildin was creakin. I didn't think nothin of it. Then I don't remember anythin except…"

"What is it?"

"A silencer, I remember a pop like a silencer equipped gun. There weren't no pain though, I just hit the floor and I saw his shoes. They were standard issue cop shoes, shined up like mirrors. Then I don't remember nothin after that."

"You're girl is right man, you couldn't have stopped this, the un-sub would've taken the doc one way or another."

"Yeah, but it don't make me feel no betta."

"Okay, that's enough." Detective Bonasera was back with coffee. She gestured to the door and Morgan decided not to push it. The man hadn't seen the un-subs face.

"Look if you remember anything, have Detective Bonasera call me." He laid his card on the table next to Flack's bed and turned to leave.

"Are ya gonna find her alive Agent Morgan."

"My teammates are the best in the world; we won't stop till we catch this guy."

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At the lab, the team was about to watch the video when Adam Ross poked his head into the room. "Ah - guys, since when did I become the girl Friday for the lab."

"Adam, what are you talking about," Mac pinched the bridge of his nose and glared at the younger man.

"There's a call here for a Dr Spencer Reid, some doctor from Bennington Sanitarium. It's on line two."

Danny watched the younger man pick up the extension, and he saw him go even whiter if that was possible. Tears formed in Dr Reid's eyes, and he thanked the person on the other end of the phone. He said he'd be there as soon as he could. He wondered what was going on the felt a rush of pity for the younger man at his next words.

He dropped the phone and faced Hotch. "Ah - that was Dr Singh from Bennington, and m-my mom h-had a stroke this m-morning and -"

"Reid don't stand there explaining yourself, get the hell out of here."

"Th-thanks Hotch, I'll c-call you from Nevada." He swiped a hand under his eyes and turned toward the door, without another word.

Mac started the DVD player and they saw Peyton sitting on a small cot in one corner of a white walled room. Danny felt the breath he didn't know he was holding leave his lungs in a rush. She wasn't hurt, thank God. He glanced at Mac and saw that his boss's face remained expressionless.

A voice began to speak, a cold mechanically altered voice out of a nightmare. "Detective Taylor as you can see Dr Driscoll is unharmed. If you want to keep her that way you'll do as you're told. I propose a trade, your lover for your new young friend. He's no biological relation to you and you haven't had time to become attached, so you shouldn't have trouble turning him over to his rightful place with me.

I'm glad the FBI has graced us with its presence. They may observe but they may not interfere with the exchange. As an added incentive for your cooperation Agent Gideon, the youngest one will be my next guest. So don't try anything stupid, I'd hate to harm your "son." After all family is the most important part of life, isn't it? I'll be calling you Detective in one hour." The screen went black and Gideon shot out of his chair.

"What does he mean by the youngest will be his next guest," Mac asked Gideon, but he and Hotch were already running out the door.

"He's going after Reid, the call was a trap." Emily said springing to her feet and leaping for the door. Hawkes, Danny, and Mac looked at each other, and then Danny was sprinting after the agents.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Authors Note**_: _Thanks again to everyone that is reading and reviewing, or adding this to your alerts. Too bad they still aren't working _

Gideon heard Detective Taylor on his radio, ordering that the building be locked down, and everyone stopped at the door. He saw Detective Messer out of the corner of his eye, blow by him like he was standing still. The younger man hit the door to the stairs and disappeared. For one insane moment he nearly laughed, oh to be thirty years younger and faster.

He followed Hotch and Mac onto the elevator and cursed the slowness of the car. It was going to be too late by the time the reached the first floor. Why was the lab on the 35th floor, whose crazy idea was that?

Why hadn't he gone with Reid, how could they have sent him out on his own like a lamb to slaughter?

"Gideon this isn't your fault," Hotch said.

"Not now Hotch!" He didn't want to hear it. If he listened to his friend, he might have to agree with him and he didn't want to agree.

Why hadn't any of them used their heads? They should have known this was a trap. The elevator was on the 21st floor now and three people got off. He felt an irrational surge of blame towards Reid, why had he taken the phone call at face value? He should have called them back, and double checked before leaving the safety of the lab.

The elevator stopped on the 14th floor and four officers got on. It wasn't fair, this boy - no this man was his son damn it, how could he have let this happen? He ignored the stares of the officers and Hotch's continued attempts to speak to him. Only Mac was quiet. He glanced at the detective, and was relieved to see that the man wasn't interested in offering comfort or excuses. Mac glanced at him, and his eyes spoke more than his words ever could. They may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but Gideon knew this man wouldn't sleep again until this was over, none of them would.

Finally thank God, and all the angels in Heaven, the doors opened on the first floor. The entryway was empty and an officer stood at the door.

"Where is he?" Mac demanded as the others ran out the doors.

"He left just before the call came down sir, I'm sorry."

Mac joined them on the street, but of course Reid was gone. "All right let's get that DVD into the AV lab and have it analyzed. I'll pull up the security camera footage, maybe we'll get lucky. "

Danny burst through the doors breathing hard. "Did you stop him," he gasped, his eyes blazing.

"He's gone… we were too late!"

"Fuck!"

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He felt like he was floating on air, but he couldn't keep his eyes open. He was so tired and his left side ached in spite of the drugs they'd given him. He hoped she would take the hint and go home. He was tired of her hovering around him. He only wanted to sleep.

The door squeaked open, and he decided to keep his eyes closed, maybe if she thought he was asleep, she'd finally leave and get some rest. Even in his analgesic induced haze he could see how tired she was.

He felt the coolness of her hand on his face. Then her scent overwhelmed his senses when her lips touched his. "I love you Flack, God knows why… but I do."

He wished he could open his eyes now, and take exception to that remark, but he was too tired.

He felt her move away and he tried to say, "Wait Stel, don't go!" He couldn't summon the strength to whimper, that FBI guy had worn him out with his questions, and he was glad the man was gone.

He vaguely heard a phone beep, and then he heard Stella's voice speaking quietly to whoever called. He was fading in and out, swinging slowly down to sleep and hopefully pleasant dreams about Stella when he heard her say. "I understand Mac. No, its okay he's sleeping. Mac… stop apologizing, this is a terrible time for you. No, he'll be okay, but I am worried about you. I care about you Mac. I want you to be happy."

He froze, the words he heard were "I care about you Mac; I want you to be happy." The words his heart heard were "I still love you Mac, I want to make you happy." He blocked out the rest of the conversation, rage coloring the edge of his pleasant haze, but he was still too sleepy to move or speak.

Then her scent was washing over him again, she kissed his cheek and said. "I have to go Don, but I'll be back as soon as I can." He waited until he heard the door close before letting one lonely tear fall down his cheek.

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"That's all the questions I'll take for now ladies and gentlemen." JJ left the microphone and moved off through the crowd of reporters that were still shouting questions at her. She enjoyed the verbal sword play with the press. Outwitting them and using them to suit her purposes or her team's agenda was the best part of her job.

The night was warmer than it had been in Virginia. She wished she could see a few of the stars. She wished Spencer were there. Since they'd become lovers, she couldn't get through the day without thinking about him, touching him, loving him. She couldn't wait to get back to the lab and see him again, and feel that rush of pleasure in her belly.

"Hey JJ, you didn't give us anything solid." She groaned at the whiny voice of Sam Henderson behind her.

Without turning to look at him she continued to make her way back to the loaned SUV she was driving. "Henderson, get lost… it's late and I have to prepare for the formal press conference in… She looked at her watch and groaned. …in five hours, so go away. Go find a cop to grill."

"Come on JJ… give me something for old times sake. Why is the FBI here, why were you called in after three murders instead of right away? Is it because the ME was kidnapped and the cop was shot? Do you only show in high profile cases now?"

That did it. She planted her feet and rounded on him. He stopped in surprise. He was five foot eight, one hundred and thirty pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. He was handsome in the boyish way the network liked in New York. He'd once been her lover when he'd been a cub reporter in DC. That had been over forever, and right at that second she couldn't imagine what she'd ever seen in him.

"I'm warning you to back off Henderson!"

"Hey what's with the last name, I remember when you used to scream my name," he moved in close and whispered. "How about we take this back to your hotel, I'd love to hear you cry out, "Sam, oh God Sam," one more time."

Her hand twitched to slap him, how dare he talk to her like that with all the eager ears around them? "Are you deaf as well as stupid," he flinched as if struck and she smiled. That felt good!

"I heard you're sleeping with a nerdy behavioral analyst, since when did brains over brawn do it for you Jareau."

"Henderson, have you lost your mind, do you want me to deck you in front of your friends."

"Give me a break JJ; you wouldn't risk breaking a nail. I just want to know what the profiler has that's so special. If he's so great, why are you here instead of helping your team find him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on JJ… you must be a really cold hearted bitch to pretend like you don't know that lover boy is in the hands of the worst serial killer to strike New York since Son of Sam."

"What the hell are you talking about, Spencer's with the team at the crime lab, he's perfectly fine. Anyway don't you think you're overstating it just a little."

"It's been all over the scanner; don't you ever pay attention to police radio?"

"Why should I, I have you guys to keep me informed."

Her hands and voice were beginning to shake, what if Henderson was right? "I'll prove you're wrong, I'll call him right now."

"Okay but he won't answer, I promise you."

Her hands shook so hard she could hardly push the speed dial. It rang and rang, then went to voicemail "Hey Spence it's me call me when you get this message"

"I told you he wouldn't answer the phone."

"He's a profiler; he's busy with the case." She smiled and tried to fool herself into thinking that was all it was. Inside she knew better, Spence never ignored her calls, so unless he was somewhere he couldn't receive calls…

"I can see it in your eyes Jennifer, you know I'm right."

"Shut up and don't call me that, ever." She began to run down the hill towards the edge of the park. She hit the speed dial for Spence again, and again it went to voicemail.

"Damn it," tears were threatening now.

"Well I don't believe it; Miss FBI is in love with the super nerdy Dr. Spencer Reid, film at eleven."

She turned back and slapped him so hard across the face that he nearly fell. "Shut your fucking mouth Henderson, and leave me alone."

She ran for the truck tears, sliding down her cheeks, she ignored the cameras pointed in her direction. She got in the SUV, slammed the door and started the engine. She was going to see for herself. Sam had been wrong, something else was happening, it had to be.

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Peyton was startled out of the light doze she'd fallen into by the door to her "cell" opening, and two burly men entering. They carried a third man between them. They tossed him to the floor where he landed with a moan. The men laughed and one said to her, "Here's your new roommate, have fun," they slammed out the door before she could react to any of what just happened.

The man on the floor was skinny and he looked tall. He had brown hair, and a sculpted face. His eyes were closed so she couldn't see them. Who was he and what was he doing here? Why was the man that had taken them keeping them alive, it didn't make sense?

She sat where she was for a long time, watching the young man on the floor in front of her. She couldn't tell if he'd been drugged without examining him closer, and she didn't want to do that. What if it was a trap?

_That's silly Peyton, why would this be a trap? _

Then the man moaned and his eyes fluttered open, they were large and chocolate brown. His hand went to the back of his head and he hissed in pain. The doctor in her couldn't let that pass. She slid off the cot to the floor next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away from her, fear filling his eyes.

It's okay, I'm -"

"Dr. Peyton Driscoll," he said through clenched teeth, she could see the recognition entering his gaze and replacing some of the fear.

"Ah - yes… I'm sorry, you have me at a disadvantage, you know me but I don't know you." The fear kicked up again and her heart began to pound. How did he know her? What was he doing here?

"I'm Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit." He said weakly. He tried to sit up but she could see he couldn't.

"Are you dizzy Dr. Reid?"

"Very," he said.

"How much pain are you in?"

"Enough."

"Don't try to move just stay there for a few minutes. Keep your eyes open Dr. Reid, keep talking to me."

"What's the diagnosis Doc.?" His tone was sarcastic, and she was relieved he was lucid.

"You've got a concussion," she said lightly touching his scalp. "That's one hell of a bump, my congratulations on a hard head doctor."

He laughed, and then moaned in pain. "Don't make me laugh Dr. Driscoll."

"I'm sorry. Listen what are you doing here?"

"My team is supposed to be looking for you and the un-sub that's killing in New York. Well, I guess I can go home now, mission accomplished.

His tone was so bitter and so full of self loathing that she said. "Dr. Reid, none of this is your fault. You were knocked out, what makes you think you could've stopped them."

"I was tricked; I let them lure me away with bad news about my mother. I should have double checked before leaving the crime lab."

He'd seen Mac. She wanted to ask him a thousand questions about the detective but now wasn't the time. Maybe now that he was here they could find a way out.

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The man watched the screen in front of him and listened to the police scanner on his desk. Everyone was in a panic, and it amused him greatly to know that not only Mac Taylor, but also Jason Gideon had to do his bidding. It was about time he got what he wanted.

He saw Dr. Driscoll helping the young agent, and he laughed at their pathetic attempts to figure out what was happening. He hadn't had so much fun in - well never actually. He had everyone dancing to his piping, and soon they would all give him the respect he had earned.

Everyone was suffering now, Mac Taylor, and his lab rats, Jason Gideon and his team. Soon the lovely Agent Jareau would be informed of the night's events and she would be devastated. It was absolutely wonderful.

His door opened and the thugs he hired to grab the agent entered. He ignored them and went on watching the two prisoners.

"When are we getting paid?"

The man switched off the monitors and turned to the thugs, they were so tiresome. "You'll get your money when I say so, got it."

"We want it now, there's going to be a lot of heat on us for this, we want to get the hell out of town, now."

"You'll be paid and can leave when I say you can, now get out of my sight."

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"Dr. Driscoll, you've been here for nearly 24 hours, have you seen the un-sub? Can you tell me anything about him?"

"I can describe what he looks like, but I haven't really talked to him. He watches me all the time though." She pointed and Reid's heart sank at the sight of the camera. How could he find a way out of here if they were being watched?

The door slammed open again, and the two thugs entered. They were both bigger than Morgan and Reid knew he couldn't take on one of them much less the two of them together.

One strode over to Dr. Driscoll and yanked her to her feet. "You're a lovely woman Dr. Driscoll, since our employer refuses to pay us, how about we take it out in trade?

Reid jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain that slammed through his head. "No, don't touch her!"

The second man grabbed him around the waist while laughing uproariously with the other thug over his outburst. "Just what are you going to do about it little man?" Reid tried to struggle, but the man was too strong for him. "Please just leave her alone," He pleaded.

"I don't think so; in fact you get to watch while both of us enjoy the lady's company."

Peyton screamed and Reid tried again to push away from the man, but his arms were in a vice grip. "There, there pretty boy, don't feel left out. You can join us, or if she isn't to your liking… He felt the man's tongue lick his neck. "No!" he shouted and bucked back against the man.

"You're a firecracker aren't you pretty boy, but keep struggling, I like it when they struggle. Reid could feel the man's arousal against his backside. He heard Peyton scream again, then a fist on flesh and she was silent.


	13. Chapter 13

_Authors Note: Here's the next chapter. Thanks to all who review. I hope I responded to everyone now that the alerts are working if not I apologize. Thanks to my talented beta REIDFANATIC, without whom this would be littered with mistakes._

Morgan entered the building and looked around curiously. It was 2 am and every cop in the place was running around like rats trying to desert a sinking ship.

"Excuse me," he said loudly, holding up his badge to the carrot haired police officer nearest to him. "What's going on?"

The man's green eyes widened at the sight of the badge, and he swallowed hard, his face going white under its smattering of freckles.

"Ah - you're with the profilers."

"Yes, what's going on?" He hated repeating himself. He glared down at the much shorter man in front of him.

"Y-yes… well you see one of your team members is missing."

"What, that's ridiculous."

"I think they said his name is Dr. Reid."

Morgan felt his blood get hot. This wasn't happening! He rounded on the cop and grabbed him by the arms. "How the hell did something like that happen here? Don't you guys know how to do your jobs?"

A large officer plowed through a couple of lab techs and latched on to Morgan. "Excuse me sir, but let go of Officer Kelly before I arrest you for assaulting an officer."

"He's one of the profilers, Ray."

The big man let go of Morgan, but his face remained angry and red. "Just because you're with the FBI, and you can't keep track of your personnel, doesn't mean you can bully my friend here."

Morgan was about to say something that might have earned him hand cuffs, when JJ's voice called to him.

"Derek, what's going on, a reporter told me Spencer's been kidnapped. Do you know what happened? Is he okay?"

Morgan turned to a white faced and crying JJ, ignoring the two men behind him. He took her arm and led her to the elevators.

"JJ, I don't know what's going on but we're gonna find out." The doors opened to the elevator car and they stepped inside.

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Adam Ross was trying to find anything he could on the DVD Mac had received, and the surveillance footage from the building's cameras. His thoughts kept straying to his friends in the lab, and how upset Mac was. Now the profilers were pissed as well. He fiddled with the computer, adding a new command to change resolution. The computer beeped from behind him, and he turned to see the face of an angel on the screen in front of him.

"What the hell!"

"Are you Adam Ross?"

"Ah - yeah," damn did his voice just squeak. "Who are you and how did you -"

"My name is Penelope Garcia, computer hacker extraordinaire, my boss Agent Hotchner asked me to help you with the DVD and surveillance footage."

No way was this woman a hacker, she was too beautiful, with blond hair and a great smile. Her lips were painted dark red and they looked very juicy and kissable _Down boy… don't let her see what you're thinking, get your mind back on track._

"Um… okay well thanks." _Oh that was smooth Ross, why don't you tattoo a sign to your forehead that says hey… I'm a nerd._

"No problem, no one messes with my sweet Reid and gets away with it."

_Wait! I thought the other blond was with him? _

"That must make you feel better helping to find your boyfriend and all." He tried not to look directly at her, he didn't want her to see the flush he felt creeping up his neck.

She snorted laughter and said, "Don't let JJ hear you call him my boyfriend, she'd tear me to shreds."

_Oh happy day she was unattached! Wait, how do you know that, there could be someone else you know? There is no way a girl this hot is single. _

"So are we going to work, or are you going to stare into space?" Garcia asked a little testily.

"Ah… yeah just let me show you what I've done so far."

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Gideon looked up when Morgan and JJ burst into the room. He sighed inwardly knowing that they'd heard what happened. He and Hotch had been so busy trying to figure out what was really going on, that they'd forgotten to contact JJ.

"Jason, where's Reid?"

"Derek, sit down and listen to me."

"It's true isn't it?" JJ said, her face white, her eyes staring out of it like burnt holes in paper.

"Sit down you two, please!"

They sat and Gideon laid it all out for them. JJ, who was the most together of all of them, began to weep. Gideon watched Morgan's face tighten, and he hoped that the younger agent would remember that the walls were glass. He couldn't punch them without getting hurt.

"How could this happen Gideon, why didn't someone question a phone call like that?"

"He loves his mother very much; he wouldn't find it strange to receive a call from her doctor. He gets calls from the Sanitarium, sometimes in the middle of the night. They always upset him." JJ said to no one in particular. Gideon saw that the tears had stopped and she looked dead in the eyes.

"JJ, let's go find some coffee that doesn't taste like battery acid." Emily stood and took the other woman's arm.

JJ let herself be led away. Gideon noticed that she would've run into the door if Emily hadn't steered her away from it. His head was pounding so hard he could hardly focus on the fact that Morgan was asking him a question.

"Gideon, did you hear what I just said?"

"I'm sorry Morgan what did you say?"

"I asked you if you called Bennington"

"Yes, Reid's mother is okay, or as okay as she gets."

Mac entered the room. He gave a weak smile and was about to speak when Stella came in. "Mac, what the hell happened."

"He's playing with us isn't he," Mac said speaking to Gideon, not Stella.

"Yes, he is. I am concerned about the DVD."

"My lab tech is working on it with your computer tech."

"I'll go see how they're coming along." Morgan left the room dragging his feet with slumped shoulders. "Agent Morgan it's the fourth door on the right."

"I'll find it." then he turned back and said. "I'm sorry Gideon, I almost forgot. Garcia gave me some info on the victims." He relayed all that he'd been told and then he left without another word.

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"Dr.Reid has a lot of caring friends, he's a lucky man." Mac observed, his eyes studying the wall across from him.

"Yes, he had a bit of a rough start in life, but things are going a lot better for him now." Gideon suddenly slammed a hand down on the table.

"Gideon, we'll find him and Dr Driscoll."

He rounded on Hotch and said with a terrible glower, "Will we Hotch, or will we only find his brutalized corpse.

Hotch flinched as if he'd been slapped. "Gideon I don't -"

Gideon was pacing the room like a caged tiger. Hotch had never seen him so upset, he was usually so calm and collected.

"I can't lose my son Hotch, not like this. I've already lost one boy, and it's taken a lot of work to try and salvage what's left of that relationship. Now I have a young agent in my supervision that believed in me when I said that I'd never let anything really bad happen to him."

"Agent Gideon I promise you we won't give up. We'll get both of them back."

"How can you say that Detective! Didn't you listen to the tape? The un-sub said he wanted to make a trade for someone new in your life that he feels you had yet to become attached to. Who is that person Detective, we have to know and we have to know now because that person is in grave danger. He's the one the un-sub wants not Reid. Reid is an added insurance policy, so that we behave ourselves and do what the un-sub wants. "

"He's right Detective, there is someone new in your life. Who is that person, and where is he now?" Hotch asked, watching Gideon's face.

"Oh my God!"

"What is it Mac, what are you thinking," Stella asked with a withering look toward Gideon and Hotch.

"I know who he's after."

Hotch saw the man give Detective Bonasera a significant look, and she went white in the face. "But Mac why, he's just a kid what could he possibly have done to get this maniac's attention."

"I don't know, but we better get a uniform out to Chelsea University, he needs to be taken into protective custody now."

Ignoring the profiler's questions, Mac picked up the phone and made the call.

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The man entered his office and flipped on the stereo. He grabbed a CD at random and put into it the player. Patsy Cline began to sing "Crazy" and he hummed along with her. He loved this kind of country music. He'd stopped updating with new music after 1990 when country began to sound too much like rock and roll.

He sat down in front of his monitors, and added a new CD for his latest communication with the detective and the profilers. His two hour time frame was almost up, it was time to call the detective and arrange the switch. He was confident that his last clue had made it clear to the detective who he wanted in return for Peyton Driscoll. Hopefully the FBI would be too busy trying to save their precious Dr. Reid to give him any trouble.

Speaking of which, he'd forgotten the monitors were off; it wasn't wise to leave them off for long periods, what if they decided to try to find an escape. There was no way out of course, but one couldn't be too careful.

He turned on the monitors and leapt from his chair in a fury. _God damn son's of bitches. What the hell did they think they were doing? _He left the room at a run, he was going to kill those two for this.

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When Reid felt the other man's hard length pressed against his backside he panicked. This wasn't a sick joke or trick. This man meant too… .

_NO! _His mind shouted in protest. "_Think Reid," Morgan had suddenly invaded his thoughts. "Remember what we practiced last week_."

_He and Morgan standing on a practice mat in the gym at Quantico. Morgan's arms were around him, pinning his arms to his sides. Reid was trying to twist and turn, he bucked against the bigger agent, sweat pouring into his eyes, his hair plastered to his forehead. Morgan held him easily like a small child in the grip of a nightmare. _

"_Reid what did I tell you?" Morgan said his tone exasperated. _

"_I can't Morgan; you're bigger than I am."_

"_Reid, believe me when I tell you that this is one moment when size doesn't matter. Now relax!" He commanded._

_Reid took a deep breath and went limp in Morgan's arms. Then he felt it the slight gap between them. He slithered easily out of the other man's arm and dropped to the floor he rolled and then jumped to his feet._

"_I did it," he cried delightedly, looking like a kid who just bested the playground bully. _

All of this replayed in seconds in his head. He decided that he had to try this on the other man. He relaxed felt the change in pressure and slipped out of the other man's grip. He fell to the floor and rolled. The man growled and kicked him in the side. With a loud slam the door flew open and there was a popping noise behind the thug. The man fell and would have landed on Reid had he not rolled out of his way.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" the man shouted, his face crimson, he looked angry enough to strangle the Pope's kitten.

The second thug leaped away from Peyton. Reid was still on the floor trying to become invisible to both of the men. He couldn't see if the other man had actually… Oh God he couldn't even think it!

"Get over here and drag this trash out of here." The man held his gun on the second thug and followed him out of the room without so much as a glance at Reid or Peyton.


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors Note: ** _Thanks again to all who continue to support this story. I appreciate all your feedback, keep it coming please_.

Garcia had never felt so frustrated in her life, watching her sweet Reid get clobbered over the head and thrown into the back of a big black van with mud obscured license plates, was doing little for her stress levels.

The only thing that made the situation better was the lab tech she was working with. He was very cute in a cuddly teddy bear kind of way. Not that she noticed or anything, after all she had a job to do, and to drool over the lab guy wasn't fair to Reid, or to the ME they had to find.

Still she wasn't entirely stupid, she saw the way he blushed the first time he looked at her. Years of flirting hopelessly with Morgan, had taught her how to recognize when a guy was interested versus when he was playing with her. She believed that Morgan was only playing with her so hey, why not flirt back, it's not like she didn't do it on a regular basis with someone that didn't care about her that way.

Strangely when she tried a smart remark, or a full on flattering line she found she stuttered, or couldn't speak at all. Now that was weird!

"Hey ah - the scan is finished and I got nothing."

"What… oh right sorry nothing here either," she said feeling her face go red, and hoping he didn't notice.

"This is crazy, there has to be something that we're missing," He said.

"I agree, but I don't know what it is." She responded, watching him run his hand through his hair for the hundredth time that night. Now it stood widely on end and she wanted to touch it. She wondered what his beard would feel like on her face.

_Stop it girl have you lost your mind, concentrate on finding one of your best friends ok. _

…you ok?

_Oh damn it, he'd spoken to her and she hadn't heard the question. No she wasn't ok, not by a long shot._

"Sorry, I'm just afraid for my friend, he's a genius but he's hopeless in situations like this. We have to find something so the cavalry can ride in in the nick of time and save his ass." She saw the look on Adam's face and hurried to say. "Not that he isn't a good agent, he is, it's just he's kind of like the problem solver of the group, not the brawn so he's likely to get beat up, or shot, or…"

_You're babbling, why do you care what he thinks of Reid?_

"It looks to me like you're the one they call on when they're in a jam," he said shyly, not making eye contact and fiddling with the pen in his hand.

"Why Mr. Ross are you flirting with me," she said, grinning widely at him from the screen. _Please say yes!!!_

"Yes, I am, is that a problem?"

"What the hell is going on in here, I thought you two where working on the DVD. I come in here and it's like a cheap dating service video," Morgan said from behind Adam, who dropped his pen and whipped around to see a big black man scowling at him, and looking like he ate New York City lab rats for breakfast.

"I - ah we were…" He stuttered watching the big man stalk over to the computer in front of him, scowl at Penelope, and then turn the same look his way. He swallowed hard and tried to smile.

"Morgan, stop looking at Adam like you want to break him in half." _Damn him, he couldn't stay out of the way for two minutes._

"Did you work me some magic?" He asked turning his back on the lab tech.

"No, we haven't found anything yet."

"I'm not surprised," he said turning his glare back at Adam. "It's difficult to concentrate when you're drooling, isn't it?"

"That's not fair Derek Morgan, and anyway what business is it of yours." She shot back, feeling her face getting hot again.

"It's my business because my friend is out there, and I don't want to find him with his eyes cut out." He said through gritted teeth. He hands on the curled around the edge of the table like a prizefighter trying not to punch out a commentator that just called him a has been.

"You're a fucking bastard, you know that Morgan. Do you think that's what I want?" Tears began to fall, and she cursed herself for letting him see them. "Get the hell out of here; go find a door to kick in." She stared him right in the eye, and saw his black orbs shut down and go blank

"Fine, I'll do that, but if Reid dies…"

"Don't you dare lay this on me Derek, now get out of here and let us work." Her mascara was beginning to run and she grabbed a tissue out of the box on her desk.

Morgan left her line of sight but not before she heard him mutter, "Women!" under his breath.

"Ah - was that your boyfriend because if it was I -" Adam asked after the agent slammed out of the door.

"No! He is most definitely not my boyfriend, he just thinks he's James Bond to my Money Penny, and I'm tired of it." She wiped away more tears not caring if he saw.

"Um… I can see how that could be frustrating." He bent down and picked up the pen he'd been playing with.

"I'm sorry to blubber like a baby; this entire mess has made me a wreck." She finished mopping her face with the tissue, and wondered what she must look like.

"I don't think you're a wreck, I think you're beautiful." he went back to playing with the pen again, clicking it open and shut, open and shut nervously. He didn't make eye contact.

"You're very sweet Adam."

She tried to smile at him, but she was still pissed at Morgan, how dare he barge in and - her computer beeped. She punched a few keys and went white at what popped up on her screen.

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Emily poured out a cup of coffee for JJ after they found the break room. The other woman was sitting in a chair at a small round table, staring into space, giving out an occasional sniff, but otherwise she didn't move or speak.

Emily was becoming seriously concerned for her teammate. God knew they weren't the best of friends but she liked JJ and Reid, and thought they made a great couple. _He loves her and she adores him_. Emily sighed, wishing for someone like that in her own life.

"Here's a cup of coffee, it tastes terrible but it's all we've got."

"Yeah, the coffee here stinks, but it grows on you after awhile, like a strange fungus you can't kill," Lindsay said as she entered the small room with Stella.

"Hi, I'm Lindsay Monroe; I don't think we've met." She held out a hand and Emily took it after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm Special Agent Emily Prentiss and this is -"

"Agent Jareau, I know her, we met earlier today. She moved over to the table and sat next to JJ. "I'm sorry about Dr. Reid."

"**What do you care, your boyfriend, the father of your child isn't out there, suffering who knows what kind of tortures, maybe he's dead! So don't pretend you know what I feel, because you don't." **JJ shouted at the CSI and burst into angry tears.

Emily watched Stella brindle and she opened her mouth to speak but Lindsay shook her head. "Agent Jareau I'm sorry if I sounded trite but you have to know I do understand." She held up her hand when JJ started to talk again.

"Let me tell you a story about an eccentric billionaire, and a bedroom he built in a panic room." By the time she finished telling the story of Danny getting accidentally locked in said panic room and nearly getting shot by the locksmith; JJ had stopped staring into space and was listening intently.

"I didn't know him very well at the time but - and Stella if you breathe a word of this to him, or anyone I'll kill you and no one will find your body."

"What, I'm not going to say anything, what happens in this break room stays in this break room."

Lindsay lightly slapped Stella's shoulder and the older woman grinned at her. "Like I was saying even though I didn't know him, I already had a crush on him and I was so worried that he would suffocate or something. I could hardly concentrate on my work." She fiddled with her hair and smiled over the memory.

"I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that you were crushing on Messer at that time." Stella said her eyes dancing with mischief.

"Anyway… I'll always wonder what might have happened if Stella had been slower getting to the scene."

Emily saw Stella shudder and wrap her arm around Lindsay for a moment. "What am I going to do?" JJ asked, the tears had stopped again and were drying on her face.

"You're going to do your job; don't you have a press conference for the 6 am news? Emily asked mimicking what Stella had done to Lindsay a moment before by putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Yes, I have to get ready for that, but how can I stand up there in front of all those people and pretend nothing is wrong. What if somehow he's watching and he thinks I don't care about him."

"Honey he knows you love him, he won't think you don't care. He knows you have to do your job." Emily admonished her.

JJ suddenly got to her feet, "I can't sit here anymore I have to work." She swept out of the break room leaving Emily with Stella and Lindsay.

"I hope for her sake we're not too late." Emily said morosely stirring the coffee, she hadn't taken a sip, she just played with the dark liquid, and imagined how much worse the day could get, and it wasn't even dawn yet.

The door opened and Hawkes stuck his head in, "There you all are, Mac wants you in the conference room, there's been a development."

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Reid sat up again moaning against the pain in his ribs from the kick the thug had delivered to his side. _Just be thankful that a kick was all you got. When this is over you'll have to thank Morgan for that little maneuver. _

He made himself stand up, trying to ignore the dizziness and the nausea he still felt at his close brush with a ruthless assault. He limped over to the cot. He had to know if Dr Driscoll was okay.

She lay on the cot sobbing, her shirt ripped halfway down the front, exposing a white lace bra. He flushed and turned his head away. He crouched down next to her making sure to keep his eyes on her face.

"Dr. Driscoll," he said softly, reaching out to touch her arm.

She screamed and tried to scoot away from him, terror springing into her eyes. He snatched his hand back as though he had been burned by a hot stove.

"I - ah I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

He saw that she didn't see him; her eyes only saw the thugs. How was he going to help her and make the fear go away when he was yet another man hovering over her? He backed away and sat down, his back against the wall, which he realized was padded like a cell in an insane asylum. Wonderful! On top of everything else, now he began to wonder if this wasn't some lunatics dream, his lunatic dream. Had he finally succumbed to his mother's illness, and was he in an institution locked away from JJ and his friends?

_Stop it, you are not in a paranoids delusional world, this is real, so deal with it._

"Dr Driscoll please talk to me, it's Dr. Reid remember? Damn it what was he supposed to say or do. His track record with hysterical or traumatized women was - well dismal to say the least.

_Okay just think about what she's feeling, this isn't about you Dr. Reid._

"Doctor, their gone, the unsub saved us. I don't know why he did, but we're okay." He watched her closely. Her eyes flickered to him and then skipped away. Suddenly she leaped to her feet and ran to the door, yanking on the knob and screaming.

"**Let me out of here! Let me go you fucking bastard!"** She beat on the padded door with her fists and began to sob wildly.

Reid tried to approach her without scaring her, but she backed away from him. "Who are you?"

"It's me, it's Spencer Reid."

Something surfaced in her eyes, a terrible scathing accusation. "You're one of them, you helped them didn't you?"

He held out a hand, and she dodged it cringing against the wall like a frightened puppy. Tears ran down her face, her cheeks were white and her eyes red and swollen.

"Don't touch me, you're part of this I know it."

"No I -"

"I don't believe you, I want Mac, where's Mac?" She slid down to the floor and sobbed, a sound that reminded Reid of his mother when she was in the grip of a hallucination before he'd signed the papers to have her committed.

He did the same thing he'd always done as a child when his mother was like this. He began to recite the poetry she taught him as a boy. The words had always had a soothing effect on his mother. Maybe it would work this time as well.

"Doctor, listen to me. Do you remember William Woodsworth from college? He wrote a short poem about London called Composed from the Westminster Bridge:

_Earth has not anything to show more fair:_

_  
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by_

_  
A sight so touching in its majesty:_

_  
This City now doth, like a garment, wear_

_  
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,_

_  
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie_

_  
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;_

_  
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air._

_  
Never did sun more beautifully steep_

_  
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;_

_  
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!_

_  
The river glideth at his own sweet will:_

_  
Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;_

_  
And all that mighty heart is lying still!_

"Can you hear me Doctor?" She suffered so much trauma, the kidnapping and the attack, he didn't blame her for being hysterical, but he needed her help. They had to find a way out of their cage. They couldn't count on Gideon or Detective Taylor. It seemed like this man had thought of everything.

A sound drew his attention back to the doctor. She was focusing on him again, sniffing occasionally as she watched his every move. Her eyes were clearer than they had been a minute before.

"Dr Reid," she asked timidly playing with the edge of the blanket on the cot.

"Yes it's me, I'm sorry if I scared you."

"I don't want to be frightened anymore." She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes like an exhausted child. "I just want to see Mac, can we go see him?"

"We can't get out the door's locked, but I might have a way to get out of here if you trust me."

Her eyes lit up and he was glad to see that the despair in them had fled for the moment. "What are you going to do?"

"We have to feed his control and make him think that we're grateful to him for saving us from those men."

"But I don't want to see him again, he's the reason we're here." She rubbed the edge of the blanket absently almost like a true believer fingered a rosary.

"I know but if you trust me, maybe we can get out of here."

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors Note:** _Thanks again to all who have reviewed. All comments are appreciated and any feed back to make this a better story is great. _

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"

Peyton continued to rub the edge of her blanket with the fingers of her right hand. She imagined that it was Mac's face she touched, and she was soothed by the thought of him.

"Just follow my lead when he comes back."

"He's coming back!" God… she didn't think she could bear to face him. He'd saved both of them from a terrible fate but…

"Yes, he'll be back, he can't help himself. He expects us to be grateful to him, and we are going to show him that we are by doing whatever he tells us to."

"But -"

"It'll be okay Dr Driscoll; I won't let him hurt you. "

"With all due respect Dr Reid, you'll forgive me if I don't believe that good intention." She dropped the edge of the blanket and regarded him with a look of deep distrust. To her surprise, he laughed and said, "Dr Driscoll call me Reid or Spencer please."

"Okay, I will if you call me Peyton okay?" She gave him a small smile, then her eyes clouded again and she said, "I'll go with Spencer if you don't mind, Reid is too…" She lifted her hands in frustration then dropped them again, and a couple of tears fell out of her eyes.

"What is it, what's wrong?"

"Mac was married once, his wife died in the World Trade Center on 9-11."

"I know, he told me this evening. The un-sub killed a woman just because her name was Claire." He shifted his legs; they were starting to go to sleep. He straightened them out to touch a leg of the cot.

"How horrible, what does he want Spencer." She said cold shivers running up her back. _Please find us soon Mac._

"I'm not sure yet. You were going to tell me why my surname bothers you. He reminded her gently.

'Oh right… well Claire had a baby when she was a teenager. She gave it up for adoption. Her son came looking for her some months back and mistook Stella for his mother. Anyway to avoid a long story, he and Mac met, and Mac had to tell him his mother was dead. He's a college student at Chelsea University and not yet twenty. He and Mac are - well they're trying to be friends, I think Mac sees him as the son he and Claire never had. His name is Reed Garrett."

She realized Spencer wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be staring at the leg of the cot his ankle was touching.

"Spencer what is -?"

The door slammed open and the man entered, training his gun on Spencer. "Agent Reid, Dr Driscoll, I sincerely apologize for my associates' behavior." He laughed, and the sound brought back the cold shivers to Peyton's back.

"It truly is hard to get good help these days." He informed them.

"Thank you." Reid said solemnly. "You saved us and we are grateful to you."

"Dr Reid… your profiling tricks won't work on me." The hand that held the gun never wavered.

"I'm not trying to trick you sir, I only want to ask a favor."

"Pray tell me what you think I should do for you Special Agent." Peyton noticed that the man was trying not to laugh, and she hoped Spencer knew what he was doing.

"Let me talk to my team, I can get whatever you want. I -"

"You want me to let you talk to your team and give you the opportunity to signal them, or give them some obscure clue about me. I think those idiots hit you harder than I first thought." The large smile on his face remained.

"I won't try to trick you, I promise."

"I know you won't, because you won't get the chance. He turned to Peyton keeping an eye on Spencer. "Come on my dear, it's time for you to be traded for my prize."

"Sir please -"

"Be quiet my young friend, you'll stay here. I have to make sure your team doesn't try anything, and they won't as long as they need me alive to find you." He lowered the gun toward Reid. "Now stay there and behave little man."

He gestured to Peyton and she stood reluctantly. The man grabbed her and yanked her out of the room ignoring Reid's protests.

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Mac slapped his phone shut and turned to Gideon. "The campus police just found Reed, they'll turn him over to Detective Angell and the uniforms. He'll be here soon."

"Good, the un-sub will be calling with the details of this trade." Gideon answered slumping down in the chair next to Hotch.

"I don't understand what this man wants with Reed. Why not just take him off campus? He's proved he can get to anyone. Why is he playing this game?"

"You tell me, what he is to you Detective. Hotch asked.

Mac told them about Claire and her son. When he finished he sat down and rubbed his aching dry eyes. What was he going to tell Reed when he got there?

"Do you have any information on Mr. Garrett's biological family?" Gideon asked.

"He knew about Claire and he told me that he knew his father's name as well, but he hadn't approached him yet. I think he's afraid because of Clair's death. It was hard on him to hear it from me."

"What about his adoptive parents, where are they?" Hotch asked his expression revealed nothing about his inner thoughts, as usual.

"They encouraged him to find out about his birth parents and to meet them. You don't think they're involved in this."

"No, I don't but we should send uniforms to talk to them, and find out where they've been over the last eight weeks."

Fear was beginning to kick up in Mac's heart. After the first shock of Peyton's disappearance all he'd felt was rage and a burning resentment toward the FBI. Now his respect for them burned out the rage and fear replaced it. What would they do if they couldn't outsmart this perp. He liked the young Dr Reid too. He seemed to be a nice young man, and you didn't have to be a profiler to see the Agent Gideon thought of him as a son."

"Detective, are you okay?"

"What… oh yeah sorry, I'm just wondering what we're missing in all of this." His headache was up to a screaming roar, and he didn't know how much longer he could go without sleep before he fell on his face.

Hotch's phone rang and he watched the agent speaking to someone. He saw the man's face fill with what looked like dread. It was hard to tell with that guy. The conversation didn't sound promising.

Hotch pocketed his phone and turned to them. "We need to get everyone in here, there's been a development."

Sheldon stood and left the room. While he herded everyone back into the room a few minutes later, Hotch explained what had been sent to Garcia or what the un-sub had sent to Mac's email. She'd intercepted it and watched the video clip.

Morgan, JJ, Danny, Stella and Lindsay joined the other four men, and without introduction Hotch started the clip. The noise generated by the reactions to the video was deafening, and a few techs in the hallway stopped to watch what was happening.

JJ was weeping, Morgan had an arm around her and his face was so stony that Mac thought if they ever found the un-sub, the agent would tie him into small knots with his bare hands. Hotch was expressionless and silent, but Mac noticed that the hands that gripped his coffee cup where white at the knuckles. Gideon said nothing; he continued to watch the video like it was a normal everyday occurrence.

Ironically it was his team that was the loudest. Danny was swearing like a sailor and Lindsay was telling him off for it. Stella demanded an end to it all saying that they had to do something, anything and right now. Hawkes was quiet, but his face betrayed the disgust and horror they all felt. As for himself he wanted to kill the man with his bare hands, and he didn't care who witnessed it. The burning rage was back, and roaring louder then ever.

The video ended with Reid slipping out of the thugs grip, and everyone cheered which attracted even more attention outside the conference room. Then the video went dead and a voice said.

"As you can see they are unharmed. I apologize for the crudeness of my associates. I have dealt with them in appropriate fashion."

The voice stopped and Mac said. "What the hell is going on, why is this guy working with two other men, and why did they just try to assault Reid and Peyton?"

Gideon opened his mouth and the phone in the middle of the table rang

"What now," Mac exclaimed his hands fisting and un-fisting in his lap.

The mechanically altered voice of the un-sub floated out like a miasma. "Detective Taylor, I know you have Reed Garrett in your custody by now. You will bring him to the warehouse district in Brooklyn. There is an old building abandoned by Hasting and Company 20 years ago. Meet me there in 1 hour, and Agent Gideon no tricks. To make sure you follow instructions, Dr Reid will remain behind as my guest." The call ended abruptly and before any of them could say anything.

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Reid stood at the door waiting. He knew he should get moving. He had little time, but at that moment all he could do was stand there, and wonder if the un-sub was really gone, or was he watching from the camera in the corner of the room. He pushed back his hair and continued to stare at the door knob. Then he heard JJ's voice in his head. _Hey Spence… stop fooling around and do something!_

He moved back to the cot, sat down and stripped off his dark brown corduroy jacket, his favorite wardrobe item. Highly embarrassed that he felt the need to apologize for what he was about to do, he whispered "Sorry" and ripped the lining out of the left side of the jacket.

A piece of light blue felt tumbled into his hand. It was folded in half and taped together. He pulled off the tape and un-wrapped the metal pieces inside. He went to the door and knelt in front of it. He was lucky the bolt wasn't elaborate. He chose the right lock pick and went to work on the lock.

When the door opened several minutes later he had to fight the urge to shout in triumph. The man could still be there. He opened the door slowly on silent hinges. The hallway was dark, but it didn't appear anyone was waiting on the other side.

Reid wasn't surprised there were no guards. This un-sub was too confident to need help controlling his guests. The fact that Reid had gotten as far as he had, told him that the man was gone with Dr Driscoll. He hoped she was okay. He felt bad for his failure to stop the man from taking her, but he felt this was the best way to get help.

He trailed his left hand along the wall as he walked. After what seemed like forever he found a light switch. He flipped it on and saw a door to his left. It was slightly open and he wished for his gun. He shouldn't go in there without one, it was against procedure, but he couldn't stop now. He needed to find his phone and his gun.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, pushing it slowly and silently inwards. It was empty and his breath released in a rush as he stepped into the room. The room reminded him of Garcia's office. There were computer screens lining one wall, and most of them showed the room he'd left and a few showed programs he was running, but best of all was his gun, badge and phone on the desk top in front of him.

He grabbed the phone and switched it on.

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Garcia sat in her chair with her eyes closed. She couldn't look at the screen anymore. Her babies were trying to trace the email she'd intercepted, but so far it was bouncing all over the planet. She hated it when they were as good, or better than she was at manipulating the information superhighway.

Tears ran down her face. She was so tired and she was pissed as well. How dare Morgan treat her like that? He expected her to wait around forever! Well she was going to show him that wasn't okay. It was time to move on. The lab tech in New York was a sweet guy and really cute. He liked her she could tell. Maybe it was better to spend time with someone that was kind, and liked you for yourself than the gorgeous "bad" guy that was Morgan.

One of her babies chirped, and she sat up, dumbfounded by what she saw. She couldn't believe her eyes, his cell just turned on. Then her phone rang and she moved a trembling hand to her phone. She put on her headphones and stabbed the button to answer the line.

"Reid… is that you?"


	16. Chapter 16

_**Authors Note: **__There is a spoiler for CM first season episode LDSK some dialog was taken directly from the episode and I take no credit for it. I own nothing of CM or CSINY I just play around in that world._

_Thanks to all who have commented and if you haven't please let me know what you think, what I can improve on or what you like about the story. _

"Reid…is that you?"

Garcia held her breath, she saw the address coming up on her screen telling her where Reid was, but she didn't believe it.

"_Well yeah Garcia who else did you expect on this phone."_

It was him, his no nonsense tones slid out of her ear piece making the tears she'd been crying double in power. It was the second time in two hours that her powers of speech had deserted her.

"_Garcia… are you okay?" _

Was she okay, well no of course not, all of this was just too much for a girl to handle, even one such as herself. She took a minute to pinch herself in case she was dreaming. It appeared that she wasn't so she wiped her eyes and nose and said.

"I'm fine sweet thing, why wouldn't I be?"

"_You answered the phone without a smart remark that has to be a first."_

"Never mind me what about you, your supposed to be in the evil clutches of the nasty villain, so color me surprised sugar."

"_I un-clutched myself." _

"Is that a word, un-clutched?"

"_Are we going to quibble over semantics or are you going to send the cavalry Garcia"_

"What… oh yeah of course I am, I'm sorry honey, I'm just glad to hear your voice, you scared us all to death. Just give me a minute and I'll conference you in with the team, ok."

"_Penelope, what's wrong?"_

"There's nothing wrong with me that seeing your gorgeous face again won't cure."

"_Garcia!"_

"I'm fine sweet thing, just let me get the boss man on the phone for you." She punched a button on her phone ignoring Reid's questions, she would have to explain herself to him sometime, but it would have to wait.

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The door to the conference room opened and Mac looked up to see a young man enter the room followed by Detective Angell. He had light brown curly hair and dark eyes. His face was attractive and his lips were as full as a woman's.

"Mac, what's going on? I've got a Pysch test tomorrow. Why did you send the police after me?

"Reed, please sit down." Mac asked, not able to take his eyes off of this young man.

He was alive and okay, this last link to Claire. How could he trade him for Peyton? How could he sacrifice either one of them?

He saw that the young man was losing patience with him. He didn't blame him, having a police detective pick you up in front of your study group would be humiliating. He was probably wondering what his friends were saying about him right now.

"Mac would you tell me what's going on so I can get back to my studies, I have a lot to do tonight."

It was a knife to Mac's heart to see the look of annoyance on Reed's face. He looked so much like Claire when she was pissed at him. He had told Dr Reid that he was over the hurt of her death, but maybe that wasn't true. Damn it would he ever get over it or would he feel this way every time he saw her son.

"Reed, have you had any contact with your biological father?"

Reed stared at Mac. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut. His face went white and his mouth trembled when he answered.

"Mac, my biological father is dead." He spat out. "Some luck I have right, I come here to find my mother and she's horribly dead. Then I finally find my biological father and he's dead too."

"Reed I'm sorry I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me?"

Mac watched the color come back into the young man's face. Now it was crimson with embarrassment. Why should he be embarrassed?

"I found out a month ago, I was… He ducked his head and tapped two fingers nervously on the table. "I guess I was just too stunned to really take it in. I didn't want to share it with anyone. I know I told you that I knew his name as was deciding to go see him. Then I found out he'd died ,and I didn't want to tell anyone how disappointed I was. My mom and dad are so great, how would they feel knowing that …" He trailed off and bit his lip.

Mac swallowed hard and bit down on the hurt he felt that this young man hadn't shared his loss.

"Reed I'm sorry and I don't want to add to this but I need you to tell me everything you were able to find out, it's important."

"Mr. Garrett, my name is Jason Gideon; I'm a profiler with the FBI, we're trying to find the man that has killed at least three people and kidnapped Dr. Driscoll." Mac was surprised at the warmth in the agent's voice when he spoke to the young man.

Reed finally looked up at Mac. "Peyton was kidnapped?"

"Yes and the man also shot Detective Flack and now he's taken one of the FBI agents as well."

Reed rubbed a hand over his neck and met Mac's eyes. He couldn't tell what the young man was feeling.

"What does all of this have to do with me," he asked, shifting in his chair and throwing his arms out, nearly knocking Morgan's coffee out of his hand.

"The man we are looking for is someone that feels you belong to him. He's a family member, a biological family member. He killed the brothers of people Mac has arrested or known in some way. He's trying to send a message to Detective Taylor. He feels like Mac is standing in the way of his claim over you. I thought it was your father, but now that you've told us he's dead, it has to be someone else. He expects us to trade you for Dr Driscoll" Gideon explained as he paced the front of the room.

"Do you have to be so blunt sir, look at him?" Emily suddenly said, cutting off Mac who was about to say the same thing. Reed was white faced and his hands began to tremble.

"I'm sorry but we have to protect you, and to do that we have to know who this person is, and why he wants -"

Gideon was interrupted by the ringing of Hotch's phone. Hotch answered it and Mac heard him talking to the same computer tech he'd talked to before, someone named Garcia. All the FBI personnel went silent as he talked to her.

"Yeah Garcia, okay slow down. What… are you sure. Okay I'll put you on speaker."

Garcia's voice burst into the room, drowning out everything else with her usual enthusiasm. "I get a gold star and a trip to Graceland for this boss man." Hotch was actually smiling so Mac wondered for a moment it he slipped into the Twilight Zone.

Another voice joined the conversation and for the second time that night there was pandemonium in the conference room. Finally Hotch had to shout to all his team members to be quite and listen. Reluctantly all of the people in the room shut up and soon the area was so quiet you could've heard the angles falling off the head of a pin they were dancing on.

"_Ah - guys are you still there?" _

Reid's voice floated out of the phone like a spirit at a séance. All that was needed was lightening and a power failure Mac thought crazily. He wanted to laugh, and he knew that sleep depravation and worry over Peyton must be making him nuts.

"Reid are you okay, where are you? How did you get away? Tell us where you are so we can come and get you." Morgan said in a hurried rush without taking a breath.

"_I'm fine; Garcia has the address from the trace on my phone. I'll explain all of it later, you have to find Peyton first, I'm alone here and okay for now, but the un-sub still has her. I'm sorry Detective Taylor I tried to stop him but -"_

"It's okay Dr Reid. He's already contacted us; he wants a trade in about 50 minutes."

"_Gideon you have to go help her, don't worry about me."_

"Just sit tight son, we got a team coming for you okay."

"_Alright Gideon I can't wait to see you all again."_

"Reid, I want you to stay on the phone with Garcia till we get there okay." Gideon said as the team began to stand and leave the conference room.

"_Okay." _

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

JJ's heart had stopped dead when she heard his voice, and guilt as black as tar had leapt up in her chest. She had prepared herself for the eventuality that he would be found, but not alive. She should've had hope; she should've known that he would come back to her.

"Hotch; I want to go with the team to get Spence." She said as she followed the team and the CSIs out the door of the conference room. She was going to go whether or not Hotch said yes; she wasn't going to wait this one out on the sideline, not this time.

"JJ I-"

"Hotch please; let me go, I have to do this."

Hotch stopped and favored her with an annoyed look, or what passed for annoyance on his face. "Agent Jareau if you'll let me speak, you'd hear me say that you can go, just stay back and let Morgan and the SWAT team do their jobs, okay?"

She wanted to kiss him but she didn't, after all she'd never hear the end of it from Morgan and from Spence if she did.

"Yes sir, I promise to be a good girl. She marked off a salute and ran out the door with Morgan, Detective Angell, and a couple of uniforms.

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Mac, Gideon and Hotch were preparing for the trade when a knock came at Mac's office door. A tall black haired man with dark eyes, and a kind but serious face entered the office. He flashed his ID and held out a hand to Gideon.

"Agent Henry Stryker, New York field office."

"Agent Stryker, I'm SSA Jason Gideon, this is SSA Aaron Hotchner, and this is Detective Mac Taylor." Gideon gestured to Mac who came around the desk and shook the other man's hand.

"Yes I've heard of you Detective Taylor, your lab is one of the best in the country."

"Not today it isn't, we wouldn't be where we are without the help of the FBI profilers."

There he'd said it; he'd admitted that the FBI had helped them. He only hoped it wasn't too late to save Peyton.

"Did you bring what we requested," Gideon was asking the agent.

"Yes, all the equipment is ready and here's the agent that will take the place of Reed Garrett for the exchange."

He gestured to the younger man behind him. Mac was impressed, they had done a very good job on short notice of finding an agent that looked enough like Reed to fool the un-sub.

_I hope! What if he isn't fooled?_

"Jason, are you sure this is going to work?"

"It has to Hotch, we can't send Mr. Garrett into the proverbial lions den, and you know it's some kind of a trap."

"I know I just don't like any of this." Hotch fiddled with a paper clip.

"We also have a team to transport Mr. Garrett to a safe house until this is over." Agent Stryker informed them.

"He's in the conference room, I'll take you there." Mac said, walking to his office door. The other agents followed him out the door.

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"Okay Garcia, it's just me and thee, tell me what's bothering you. Why did you call Hotch instead of Morgan?"

He moved through the hallway he was in, testing the doors and they were all locked. He didn't take the time to try and open any of them; that would be the responsibility of the New York cops when they got there. He wanted to get out of what he was sure was a basement. He wanted to see the night sky, and watch the stars while he waited for Morgan, and speaking of Morgan.

"Come on tell me what's bothering you, what did my partner do to you this time?"

"_It's nothing that I want to talk about Reid, so drop it."_

Hmm… no banter and she was angry. What had Morgan done that he was going to have to deck him for later?

"Garcia you know you'll feel better if you talk to me, you can trust me I won't breathe a word."

He had reached the foot of a staircase. There were fifteen stairs going up to a door. He hoped it led out of the basement.

"_Honey, don't try to sweet talk me, I'm immune to your charms."_

Okay, if that's the way she wanted it, he could play dirty too.

"I thought I was your best friend Penelope, best friends tell each other stuff, right." He crossed his fingers this would work as he went up two risers on the staircase.

"_That's a low blow Reid, pulling out the best friend card."  
_

"Whatever works, now spill."

So she did, telling him all about Adam Ross and the fiasco in the lab. He could hear how hurt she was, and worse he heard the surrender in her voice, she'd given up on his partner. He didn't blame her; Morgan was completely clueless when it came to the computer tech.

_Damn it Morgan what the hell is the matter with you?_

He'd climbed to the top of the stairs, now he wanted to get out and wait for Morgan so he could belt him for hurting Garcia.

"I'm sorry Garcia; if it makes you feel any better I'll beat him senseless for you when he gets here."

"_That's very sweet of you honey, but just let it go okay. I don't want you to hurt yourself and a he's not worth it. Besides, Adam Ross is awfully sweet and cute."_

He could hear the desperation in her voice and decided to let it go, for now. At least with her, he and Morgan were going to have discussion later.

"Okay, I'll play nice." He was reaching for the door, when something made him stop. He stared at the door in the low light trying to figure out what made him stop. He wanted to get out of here, but there was something…

"_Reid are you okay?" _

"Ah -yeah I'm standing at the top of the basement stairs, but there's something about the door."

"_What is it, what's wrong baby cakes?"_

He bent closer to the door knob and something he hadn't thought of in a long time came back to him. A year and a half ago he'd failed his recertification to carry a weapon. It was the most humiliating thing to happen to him in all his time at the BAU. He remembered during the Phillip Dowd case that came along that same day, he'd gotten into it a little with Gideon.

"_How ya holding up. Gideon had asked when Reid had approached him._

"_Look at me, without a gun on my belt I look like a teacher's assistant." _

"_You're not worried about how you look."_

"_Hotch told me that when he came to the BAU that you told him he didn't need a gun to kill someone."_

"_The only truly effective weapon we have is to do the one thing they can't."_

"_Which is what?"_

"_Empathize!" They dehumanize their victims, we humanize the killers."_

"_You're just saying that to convince me I don't need to carry a gun!"_

"_I don't care if you carry a gun or not. The deadliest weapon we have is a thorough and accurate profile." _

"_Of course you believe that!"_

"_The footpath killer had a shot gun to the back of my head. I'm here and he's not."_

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"_Reid, are you going to stop day dreaming and tell me what's wrong." _Garcia's voice drew him out of the memory, but what Gideon said about a thorough and accurate profile kept playing in his head.

"I don't know what it is; it's just that this door doesn't have a lock on it. All the other doors were locked except his office and this one."

"_Why is that a problem, maybe he doesn't like keys." _

"I don't know but something's not right."

"_Are you sure you're not being paranoid." _

"I don't know, maybe you're right." He reached out his hand toward the knob.


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with either show, no copyright infringement is intended._

_Spoilers: None_

"**Montana I mean it, I want ya ta stay here where it's safe!"**

"**Danny Messer… if you think I'm going to watch you go off and save Peyton while I cower here like a helpless female, you've got another thought coming cowboy!"**

Stella watched them argue back and forth, she desperately wanted to laugh at the way Lindsay handled Danny. The younger CSI stood with her hands on her hips toe to toe with her boyfriend, while his eyes were blazing, and his hands were flying around his head while he spoke. Neither one of them was backing down and this had been going on for ten minutes.

"**Guys… hey you two." **Stella had to shout to be heard. Even though they both turned looks of death on her she said. "Danny, Lindsay can take care of herself. She's going to stay back when we go in, aren't you Lindsay?"

"Come on Stella I can -"

"I mean it Lindsay, you're pregnant and I will not let you put my godchild's life in danger."

"Wait, how did you know we wanted you to be the baby's godmother?"

"Because I'm the best one for the job and you know it, and anyway don't change the subject. Mac and I are allowing you to go because Peyton is your friend too, but you will be careful, is that clear." Lindsay looked into those intense green eyes and decided not to argue.

"Stella ya can't let -"

"Danny back off, she's coming with us!" _God… what a stubborn man, how did Lindsay put up with him?_

"I promise I'll be careful cowboy." Lindsay wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. When they showed no signs of remembering Stella was in room she loudly said. "All right that's enough, save it for later." They sprang apart, Lindsay blushed and Danny grinned stupidly at her.

"You two make me nauseous and since I'm not the pregnant one it's gonna stop, right?" She had to say something to banish thoughts of Flack that watching them kiss had put in her head. She knew he was going to be okay, but she didn't want to wait for him to heal. She wanted him to walk in that door now and take her in his arms.

"Come on you two, let's go meet up with the others." She said, herding them out of the break room.

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"Agent Gideon, are you sure this is going to work? I don't want to piss off the man that's holding Peyton, and if we try to trick him he might kill her." Mac asked Agent Gideon after he ended his call to Reed on his way to the safe house.

"Detective, we are going in prepared, the fact that he didn't say anything about cops tells me that he is desperate and he doesn't care anymore. We know that somehow he's watching Mr. Garrett. He knew that we had him picked up. We have Agent Marlin dressed in Mr. Garrett's sweatshirt, with the hood up and the poor lighting, he won't know the difference till it's too late. We have the information on this man that Mr. Garrett gave us, it can be used to our advantage."

Gideon had made sure that Reed's look alike had a transmitter, and that he was wired, so if they made the trade successfully and the man got away with the agent, they could track him and take him down. He hoped that wouldn't be necessary. He hoped they would take the man alive and that none of his team or Mac's team would be hurt in the process.

"Ok let's go, I don't like this, but we don't have a choice." Mac said holstering his weapon and walking toward the elevator doors."

"No, we don't have a choice." Gideon said quietly to himself, he was starting to think that Reid's escape had been a little too easy, and he didn't know how the younger man had pulled it off, but something was wrong. Why leave him alone, even if you think he's locked up and can't go anywhere?

As he was leaving the office with Mac and the FBI agents for the New York field office, he pulled out his phone and called Morgan.

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The van stopped after a long journey or so it seemed to her. She heard a door open and the man said jauntily, "Stay where you are."

As soon as the man slammed the door shut, she tried to move across the floor of the van, but found she couldn't move more than a few inches before she was brought up short by a painful yank on her arms. The man had handcuffed her hands behind her back and she was blindfolded. She couldn't figure out why she was tethered or how. She tried to feel behind her but it just put more pressure on her shoulders which were pulled out behind her. She eased back and to the left, her shoes sliding across the metal floor of the vehicle.

She was about to move a bit more when the door to the van opened. Her heart jumped in her chest; maybe someone had seen the van and was curious. Then the man's voice said. "I told you not to move Dr Driscoll."

She flinched away from the sound of his voice, tears rolling out from under the blindfold. Her body shook as though she'd stayed out to long in freezing cold weather. She wondered if she were finally going into shock.

"Don't worry doctor it will all be over soon one way or another." She felt the van move forward and after a while they turned, she didn't know which direction it was. She felt a bump and her arms jerked painfully behind her as she slid a bit on the slick floor.

She'd given up trying to tell what was going on. All she could think of was Mac. Would he be able to help her or would this man eventually kill her. He said something about a trade, did that mean that Mac was being forced to put someone else in jeopardy in order to save her. She couldn't bear that, not even to save her own life. Mac would still be hurt no matter how this ended.

The van ground to a halt and the door in front opened once more. It slammed shut and her heart rate increased again, this was it, whatever this bastard had planned was now. Maybe she could try to get away from him; she thought when she heard the sliding door open.

The van creaked with the addition of his weight to the back of the van. She could smell sweat and tobacco when he grabbed her arms and held them tight with what felt like one hand. The touch of his sweaty palms made bile rise in her throat. Maybe he'd saved her from certain rape because now he decided that was something he wanted from her.

Suddenly the pressure lessened on her arms and she was pulled roughly from the van. She screamed when one knee rapped against the edge of the door. She nearly fell, but his hands held her up. A rough whisper said in her ear.

"Shut up and walk, you little bitch." He kept an iron grip on her pulling her forward. It was cold, and she was glad she still wore her ME's jacket. She had a minute to wonder through her fear, why he hadn't taken it from her. Then she was pushed down on to a rough wooden surface. "This time do as I say and don't move. My gun is pointed at you head. If you try to run I'll kill you."

She didn't believe that he needed her, but that didn't stop her mouth from going dry at the threat. Tears still ran down her face to stain her cheeks and she cursed herself for being so weak and helpless. She should be able to do something, anything, but sit here and feel sorry for herself.

_What are you going to do Peyton, try to run? He may not kill you but he might shoot your legs out from under you or something. Do you want to take that chance? _

She started in surprise when his voice whispered in her ear again. She hadn't heard him move close to her. "There's no reason to look so afraid doctor, I told you this would all be over soon." He began to laugh while she cried and silently begged Mac to find a way out for all of them.

"Leave me alone, please. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want what was once taken away from me Dr. Driscoll. Now shut up, your lover and the police will be here soon."

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Reid reached out a hand for the door knob and his phone beeped, nearly sending him tumbling back down the stairs. "Garcia, I got another call, I'll be back to you in a minute," he told her his heart pounding from the realization that leaping backwards on the landing wasn't a good idea.

"Reid," he said.

"_Hey my man, how are you holding up?" _Morgan's voice would have been comforting but for the fact that Morgan was playing with Garcia's affections.

"I'm fine, you guys are close right?" He hated to admit that after the euphoric rush of getting out of that little room had worn off, he was feeling really shaky.

"_We'll be right outside your door in five minutes according to the gorgeous detective driving this truck."_

Reid knew that tone, and he forgot about the door for a minute while he tried to remember that Morgan was his friend and that decking him would hurt him more than it would hurt Morgan. Still he had to do something to defend Garcia.

"Do you have to do that Morgan?"

"_What are you talking about?" _Reid could hear the surprise in the other man's voice. Reid rarely used a tone like that with his partner, but maybe it was time to change that.

"Do you have to flirt with every halfway attractive woman you come in contact with?"

"_Why, did that suddenly become a crime kid?"_

"Don't call me a kid and you know what I mean, you're hurting her feelings."

"_Have you lost your mind Reid?"_

"Stop hurting Garcia!"

There was a long pause and Reid thought the other man had hung up on him and then he said in a low voice.

"_You want to watch yourself Reid; I don't interfere with you and JJ so stay out of my business."_

"You're hurting my friend Derek; I'm not staying out of it."

"_I'm not having this discussion with you. Its looks like we're at the right address don't move till we clear the place." _

"Fine," Reid said angrily and cut off his friend without saying goodbye. He turned and sat down on the top step. He pushed a button on his phone.

"Hey Garcia, you still there?"

"_Sure thing baby cakes, what's going on?"_

He no longer heard tears in her voice, she was trying her best to be happy for him, but he didn't buy it.

"Morgan's here so I'm gonna let you go, I'll see you soon Penelope."

"_Okay sweet thing, remember what I said not a word to Morgan."_

"Right," he hung up the phone and looked at it guiltily. _I just want to help you. _

After a few minutes of staring morosely at his shoes he heard movement at the other side of the door and then Morgan's voice.

"Reid!" a muffled voice came from beyond the door.

"I'm here man."

"Listen get away from the door, we'll have you out of there in no time." Reid had never heard his partner's voice squeak before, and it was then that he remembered his suspicions about the door.

"Morgan what's wrong?"

"Just stay back Reid."

"Ok, I'll go back down the stairs." So the door was booby trapped, and like an untrained idiot he'd nearly walked right through it. Well at least no one had seen him so he didn't have to explain himself.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, and pulled out a coin from his pants pocket, and began to make it dance across his knuckles, while he paced the hallway. What was taking so long? He wanted to get out of here, punch Morgan and kiss JJ. Maybe not in that order, but still…

The door opened and there was his partner. He ran up the steps and into the kitchen that was on the other side of the door. Morgan tried to hug him, but Reid hauled back and punched him in the face as hard as he could


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note**: _Thanks to all who have reivewed or added this to your alerts. Here is the next chapter and remember to use that little button at the bottom to send me your thoughts_.

"Hawkes," Sheldon said into his phone as they rocketed down the half deserted streets.

"_Hey… so I finally got a match on the bullet Mac pulled from the wall in Timothy Nickels' apartment." _

"I thought the computers were down?" Hawkes waved away Stella who was trying to get his attention. Sometimes these SUVs could get so crowded.

"_They weren't down, just slow, in fact we had a virus and that beautiful blond computer goddess from the FBI hacked into our system and fixed it for me. She's so smart, and gorgeous, and funny -"_

"Hey, lover boy can we focus on the bullet please?"

"_What? Oh yeah, the bullet was pretty smashed from passing through Detective Flack and hitting a stud in the wall behind him, it was a 9mm. The bullet and the gun that fired it came out of our evidence room." _

"That's not funny Adam!"

"_It's not a joke. The weapon was used 8 years ago in a robbery in Washington Heights. The convenience store owner was killed, and Mac was the one to find the perp and put him away. He died in prison a year ago; he was murdered by another con. His name was Victor Rand."_

"So someone managed to steal the gun out of evidence lock up. How's that possible? How did we get a computer virus, what about the firewalls on the system?"

"_I don't know it's your job to figure that out, you're the CSI remember?"_

"Very cute Adam!" Hawkes slapped his phone shut and relayed the info to Stella, Danny and Lindsey. Hotch was also in the SUV and he called Gideon to give them the news.

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Morgan staggered back a step when Reid's fist plowed into his face. "Reid what the fuck…"

"Come on Morgan, why don't you fight back, show everyone what a big man you are!"

"Spencer, what's the matter with you." JJ said stunned from her position across the room. She walked forward and placed a restraining hand on his arm. "Babe, what are you doing it's Morgan."

"I know who it is, get out of my way, he has a beating coming to him."

"Spence what are you talking about, he hasn't done anything to you." JJ said, trying to get him to look at her.

"He knows what he did, come on Morgan tell JJ what you did to Garcia."

JJ turned to Morgan, "What is he talking about?"

Morgan ignored her and began to rub his aching jaw. The officers that had disarmed the bomb on the door glanced quickly at them and just as quickly they left the house, while two others went down to check the basement out.

"Reid I don't know why your doing this but you better back off or -"

"Stop pretending Morgan, you …" He trailed off and staggered a little where he stood. His head hurt so bad he thought it might explode. He was suddenly very dizzy, his vision going black at the edges.

"Reid, what's wrong?" Morgan said watching the younger man turn white as a sheet.

"I don't feel so good." His hand went to the back of his head and he began to sway on his feet.

"Spence… what's wrong?" JJ reached out for him as he fell forward into Morgan's arms.

"Detective what do you remember about Victor Rand." Gideon asked as their vehicle sped through the night, and streets that never really slept. The night was clear and chilly, and Gideon had just got off the phone with Morgan, they had arrived at the home where Reid was being held, and Morgan had talked to him, he was okay and Morgan would have him back with the team in no time.

"He was your basic low-life in a gang since he was thirteen. There isn't much of the penal code he hadn't violated as a juvenile. He was eighteen at the time of the robbery, so he became a guest of the State of New York at Riker's Island."

"How did someone steal evidence out of your lockup?"

Mac turned his steely gaze from the road long enough to glare at Gideon. "I don't think I like what you're implying Agent Gideon."

"I'm not implying anything, but knowing how the gun disappeared from your evidence locker could tell us who the un-sub is. I already know he's related to Victor Rand somehow. Did he have a brother?"

Mac glanced over at him again, this time a thoughtful look on his face. "I think he did, but I don't remember his name and I have no idea where the family is now."

Gideon's phone beeped. "Jason Gideon."

"_Hey boss man… I found something for you."_

"Garcia, what have you got?"

"_That gorgeous lab tech Adam Ross gave me a name, a Victor Rand. It turns out that he has a brother Samuel that was killed in a hunting accident 6 months ago, but his father still lives in Queens and guess what the address is."_

"The house where we found Reid."

"_You got it,"_

"What is his father's name?"

"_Peter Rand."_

"Thanks, Garcia keep up the good work." He shut his phone and relayed this new development to Mac.

"So… do you think Rand's father is behind this whole thing?" Mac asked as he made a hard left turn against a yellow light to a chorus of screaming horns.

Gideon didn't answer because they had arrived at their destination. The two SUVs pulled up to the wire gate that stood open. A definite invitation, he thought to himself.

The cops' cars pulled up behind them also blaring sirens into the cold night. There was no need for stealth; the man knew they were on their way.

The two teams entered the warehouses, and SWAT took off to surround the building and try to find the best shot in case they had to take this guy out.

The BAU and CSI teams headed for the entrance to the warehouse; Lindsay and Sheldon at the back of the group. There were no lights in the building so flashlights bobbed ahead of them like buoys on the high seas revealing, and then hiding details of the building around them.

Mac and Gideon turned one corner, guns drawn. They were brought up short by the site of Peyton sitting blindfolded on a wooden packing crate. The man stood behind her with his gun pointed at her head.

"Mac" Peyton screamed.

"Shut up bitch." The man said yanking her back to him by her long dark hair."

"John Carroll, you're the one who's behind all this." Mac said in disbelief.

"Oh, I'm disappointed Detective Taylor, I thought you would have discovered my true identity by now. I guess that virus I planted in your system a few months ago was too sophisticated for you to get around."

"No Samuel, we know you're Victor's brother. Good work faking your death, when it was your father that died." Gideon said, while Mac gaped at him. _How did this guy do that? _Mac wondered to himself.

"Very good Gideon, but your profiler tricks won't help you." He shifted his grip on the doctor and Peyton wailed.

"Why don't you tell us what you want Samuel." Gideon knew he had to do something fast or Peyton would die, the man had nothing left to lose.

"You already know, I want the son of Claire Taylor." His gun was still too close to Peyton's head for Gideon to risk trying to take him down. He hoped that Mac would be patient.

"We brought the boy with us, but you need to release the doctor and then -"

"No Agent Gideon… do you think I'm stupid. I know that you have young Mr. Garrett in protective custody. I want you to forget trying to pass off a substitute and bring the boy to me. After that you're going to see that I get safely to the airport with him and onto a waiting jet."

His gun hand stayed steady, it didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon, Gideon noticed, wondering how far he would have to push this man.

"I don't know what you're talking about Samuel, Reed Garrett is right here and -"

"Stop trying to trick me Agent Gideon," he released his hold on Peyton's hair and pulled a small black device out of his pocket. It was the size of a television remote and a red light beeped on one end. "This is the remote trigger for a bomb on the door to the basement where your precious Dr Reid is being held. I push it and poof, the good doctor is dead."

Gideon knew that SWAT was in place by now, so he had to take a chance and hope they would take the shot.

"Forget it; we're not going to give you what you want. Do you think you're the only one who's lost someone?"

"Mac Taylor killed my brother, he was all I had. My father was an abusive son of a bitch, and Victor protected me from him all my life. You killed him, and now I am going to take your last link to your beloved Claire. As for you Jason Gideon, losing your "son" is an added bonus. He cocked the gun he was holding and lowered it towards Peyton's head. She screamed and a shot rang out.

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The man fell backwards a hole between his eyes. Mac lowered his smoking gun and ran to Peyton who was screaming. He pulled her into his arms and she tried to pull away from him, still screaming.

"Peyton… its Mac, its okay baby," He pulled the blindfold off her face. Her beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot and full of tears.

"Mac, is it really you."

"Yes, it's me, your okay we got him; he'll never hurt anyone again." He kissed her softly and pulled back to give her one of his rare smiles.

Her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted in his arms. Mac began to scream for the EMTs and the rest of his team crowded around him watching silently as he cried.

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Gideon pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed JJ's number. It rang as Peyton was being loaded onto the bus. Mac followed her into the back. The bus pulled away when Gideon said "JJ… its Gideon, how's Reid?"

"_Gideon…we got him out okay, but there was a bomb on the door like you said there would be. Something's not right with Reid. He tried to punch out Morgan and then he collapsed. The paramedics said he probably has a concussion so they're taking him to the hospital."_ She said her voice shaking so badly she could hardly get the words out.

Despite the cold that had come into his own heart, he knew he had to be strong for her and Reid. "He'll be okay."

"_I know Morgan and I are following the bus to the hospital, we should be there soon."_

"What hospital are they taking him to?"

"_I think they said Saint Bartholomew's" _Her voice was a bit steadier.

"Okay that's the same place they took Dr. Driscoll."

"_What happened, is she okay?" _

"I don't know she fainted after Detective Taylor killed the un-sub."

"_Listen Gideon we're almost there, I'll talk to you guys there ok."_

Gideon pocketed his phone and told Hotch what had happened. They got into one of the SUVs followed by Stella who was ignoring Mac's orders to go get some rest. She told Hotch and Gideon that she needed to get back to Don. Emily piled in after Hawkes and they took off.

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Danny watched the SUV leave. He turned to Lindsay and said. "Montana, let's get the hell outta here okay."

She smiled that wonderful smile and reached out a hand to stroke his grizzled cheek. "You look like hell Messer, let's go get some sleep, we'll see Peyton later.

Danny was glad she was going home on her own and that he didn't have to convince her not to go to the hospital.

"Ok, that's sounds like heaven. He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her over to a squad car.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Authors Note: No copyright infringement is intended. I own only my own characters**_

_**Spoilers: None **_

Lindsay finished her morning worship of the porcelain god and got to her feet. It was strange to be throwing up and then going to bed. She rubbed at her sore belly, and wondered if she would be able to sleep, or if her stomach would yammer at her all day.

She made a detour in to the kitchen to see if there was anything interesting that she might be able to keep down. A perusal of the fridge disappointed her. There were leftovers galore, pizza, pasta, steaks from the weekend before and oddly enough, cottage cheese. She grimaced and felt her stomach roll over. She shut the door before the food made her sick again.

"So, it's crackers and 7-up again. Well... that'll be fun."

She piled the crackers on a small paper plate and poured out the soda. She made a face at the glass, she hated 7-up. It was a drink for kids with upset stomachs.

"I am not a kid."

"No you are not Ms. Monroe."

She nearly dropped the glass. She whirled around and saw Danny standing there in a tee shirt and sweat pants. He was grinning at her despite the fact he could hardly stand up.

"Hey, I thought you were going to bed, baby."

"I did, but my cuddle bunny didn't join me so I can't sleep."

"Sorry… I had to throw up, and I'm starved. Go to bed, I'll be there as soon as I finish this gourmet delight."

" I'll just join you then," he stole half her crackers, and turned to reach for a glass and the 7-up.

"Hey… get your own food!"

"If it's good enough for you and junior, it's good enough for me."

"You're weird Messer," she threw back over her shoulder, as she made her way into the living room and the couch.

"You're just now figurin that out Montana?" He winked at her and plopped down on the couch beside her. He ate his crackers with unbridled enthusiasm, so she decided they weren't all that bad.

When she'd forced down the last of the awful 7-up, she banged down the glass and said, "Okay Messer it's bedtime for you.

"Montana you're awful cute when you're bossy. He wrapped an arm around her, and began to nuzzle her neck. Her traitorous body began to respond so she pulled away, stood up, and retreated to the other side of the room.

"Don't start Danny, you need sleep, not sex."

"Why can't I have both," He asked, getting to his feet.

"So what… I let you have your way and you fall asleep before I… Where does that leave me?"

"I'm hurt Montana when have I ever fallen asleep before you …" He mimicked her tone and waggled his eyebrows at her.

She giggled but she gave him a wide berth anyway. "It won't work Messer."

"Okay… I give up Montana, let's go get some sleep." He held out a hand and she walked over to take it. He kissed it and led her back to their room.

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Detective Angell exited the elevator on the fifth floor. The hospital was waking up. She looked at her watch and groaned. It was just before 6 am and she was beat. Hawkes stood leaning against one wall. He was alone and he looked like she felt.

"Hey Hawkes, how is she?"

He turned and smiled tiredly at her. "She's going to be okay. She's got one hell of a bruise on her left knee, and she's suffering from the trauma of the whole kidnapping. The doctors want to keep her here for 24 hours. Of course, she's balking at that, she says she is fine and that she can take care of herself."

Angell sat down in a plastic chair next to him, it was orange, ugly and it was wonderful to get off her feet.

"Don't they say that doctors make the worst patients?"

"Angell, did you just make a joke?" He passed in front of her and sat down in the other horrendously uncomfortable chair. It was bright yellow and eye searing.

"Don't sound so surprised, I have a sense of humor too, you know."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, I beg your forgiveness."

She shook her head and slouched down a little in her seat. "I got some information on Samuel Rand. He was only twenty-four, and already big into organized crime, one of the Tanglewood boys' rival gangs. He was clean up until four years ago.

He was highly intelligent, and graduated college at twenty with a degree in computer science. The gang liked his hacking skills, and they used them for credit card theft, hacking into bank accounts and draining them. They were also into the usual prostitution, protections rackets, auto theft, armed robbery. The list goes on and on."

"What about "John Carroll," why did Mac call him that at the trade?" Sheldon picked up a magazine and leafed through it, not really seeing the pages in front of him.

"That's one of his many aliases. He owned the house where he held Peyton, and that FBI agent under that name. He was pretty slick in setting up his life, completely off the grid when it came to his true identity. Mac actually arrested him twice, and both times he gave that name."

"I just can't get my head around a computer genius that's a mobster." Sheldon said, putting down the magazine, and picking up another one.

"Hey… it's the twenty-first century, get used to it."

"Do we know how he managed to get the gun out of evidence lockup?"

Detective Angell scowled, "Yeah, the cop in charge of the evidence locker got paid to steal it. He was up to his eyeballs in internet gambling debts."

She got up and began to pace angrily up and down the hallway. "I'd like to kick his ass, but I think I'll let Flack do it, when he's recovered, unless the cons in prison get to him first."

"You want to get some coffee," Sheldon asked as he stood and stretched with a groan.

"Sure, I guess we'll be here for awhile."

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Hotch closed his phone and walked back into the ER. Gideon sat staring at the cup of coffee in his hand. Emily sat next to Morgan, who was still rubbing his aching jaw. JJ sat next to Gideon and looked at a magazine that was upside down in her hands.

He sat down on the other side of Gideon and said. "That was Assistant Director Burns, he congratulates us on a job well done, and he's giving us the next week off. That includes you JJ."

She flinched and looked up uncomprehendingly at Hotch, "What…"

"Vacation time JJ, remember what that is? Morgan quipped from his chair."

A doctor with a shock of auburn hair and hazel eyes approached the group before she answered Morgan. He was so tall and thin he made Reid look fat. His name tag read Dr Neil Schwartz.

"Are you Agent Hotchner," he asked Hotch as he entered the waiting room.

"Yes, I am. How's Reid, can we see him?"

"Dr Reid is fine, he had a mild concussion. He would have been doing well, but as I understand it from your Agent Morgan, his mental and emotional states were under high stress for several hours after the initial blow and he lost consciousness. He'll be awake soon. He's in a private room, and you can see him, but just two at a time please."

"Thank you doctor, when can he go home?" Gideon asked as he stood, and moved to the entryway of the waiting room.

"I want to keep him here till tomorrow. His concussion was mild as I said, but I'd like to do a few more tests and watch him for at least twenty-four hours."

"He really hates hospitals, is there any way he can leave and I can watch him." JJ pleaded; tear tracks on her blotched face.

"He needs to be monitored here."

"Please, I promise I'll take care of him." Emily put an arm around JJ when tears started to fall down her face.

"We'll see how he's doing this evening, that's all I can promise." He pushed a pen into the pocket of his white lab coat.

"Thanks doc," Morgan said taking JJ's hand in his.

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She knew that all of them wanted to see him, but they let her go first anyway. She followed the doctor down the hall to his room, her heart beating so loudly and so hard, it could have been the back beat for the latest Metalica song on the radio.

Her hands began to shake when the doctor opened the door and stepped away so she could enter. It wasn't as bad as she imagined. He had an IV line infusing into his right wrist. She didn't know what was in the bag that was hooked to a metal stand behind his bed, and it didn't matter. He was alive and out of the hands of a manic.

"I'll leave you alone for awhile." He smiled and touched her shoulder before he left the room.

She sat down in the chair next to his bed and picked up his left hand. It was warm and soothing to touch him. Would he wake up now that she was here, or would he stay away?

"Hi baby, it's Jennifer. You can wake up now, Morgan isn't here."

His eyes stayed closed and she watched his chest rise and fall. "Please wake up. I want to see your beautiful eyes." She squeezed his hand but he didn't move or respond. One hand went to his face and pushed back his hair.

"I love you Spence, please come back to me." She moved up and buried her head on his chest.

"What does a guy have to do to get some rest around here," he whispered.

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"Mac, I'm fine. Get me out of here." Peyton said from her bed, where one leg was elevated. The ice pack was making her shiver. Damn it! If she wanted to be cold, she'd go recuperate in the morgue's refrigerator.

"You're going to stay right there, you were unconscious for an hour, and the doctor wants to monitor you."

She yanked her hand out of his and crossed her arms over her chest. He was grinning stupidly at her and she knew he was laughing on the inside.

"What's so damn funny Taylor?"

"You're very sexy when you pout Dr Driscoll."

"And you're very annoying when you're patronizing."

"I'm just happy that you're okay, you scared the hell out of me."

She watched the smile leave his face and she wanted to be happy about it, but she wasn't. "I know baby, I'm so very sorry, but I'm okay. My knee hurts like hell, but I am okay. Can't you convince the doctor to let me go?"

"Peyton, please just humor me and stay calm till the doc says you can leave." He took her right hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it. "I love you, I know I don't tell you that out loud, but I do, I just want you to be okay."

"You don't play fair Detective Taylor!"

"I know, but whatever works darlin."

She let him think that she couldn't see the stress in his eyes, because he was trying so hard to be upbeat. She wanted to pull her hand away from him, since the sensation of that man on her hands and he face and neck was still embedded in the nerves of her skin. She forced herself not to think about it. She would deal with it later.

"Don't push it away Peyton, I know what you went through, he sent us a DVD to hurt us."

She hadn't known that, now that he knew he wouldn't let it go, he would force her to confront her feelings and he was right.

"I'm sorry I -" She couldn't look at him, only at her hands.

"Stop it, don't apologize, this is not your fault," he put a hand under her chin and pulled her head around to face him. She kept her eyes down.

"Look at me Peyton!"

"No! Please leave me alone."

"I can't, I need you." His hand moved to her cheek caressing it softly. His thumb wiped the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"I won't lose you, not without a fight, we'll get through this together, do you hear me?"

Her arms went around his neck and her head burrowed into his chest while she cried.

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Adam put the key to his apartment into the lock and twisted it. The sun was rising, and he was so exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open. He shut the door behind him and crossed the entryway into his living room. He pushed his cat Leia off the battered sofa and sat down. She glared at him with her unusual green eyes, and with her tail in the air; she left the room, probably to find PJ and play.

"Why do I have two cats? They both ignore me!"

His eyes were closing when a ding announced an instant message on his computer. He glanced at the screen and for a long time he debated whether or not to see who was messaging him at - he looked at his watch and groaned - 530 in the morning! His brain was telling him to go to bed, whoever it was could wait. He got up with a moan and a stretch. He went to the computer and pushed the mouse, his Star Gate SG-1 screen saver disappeared and he saw against a purple background the words:

QuanticoGoddess: hey Ross, give me a shout when u get this, I'll be waiting.

He sat down and after a very long time staring at the words on the screen he typed a reply.

Labgeniusnyc: who r u?

QuanticoGoddess: it's me Penelope

Adam blinked in surprise; he never expected to hear from that beautiful hacker ever again.

QuanticoGoddess: r u there

Labgeniusnyc: yeah

QuanticoGoddess: is that all u can say

Labgeniusnyc: no

QuanticoGoddess: LOL so talk 2 me

Labgeniusnyc: why do u want 2 talk 2 me

QuanticoGoddess: don't be so suspicious I like u

Labgeniusnyc: I thought that u and that FBI guy were together

QuanticoGoddess: No!!! Never!!!! I told u that remember

Labgeniusnyc: good I like u 2 want 2 see u again

QuanticoGoddess: why do u think I contacted u.

Labgeniusnyc: when??

QuanticoGoddess: the boss gave us the week off.

Labgeniusnyc: have u ever been to NYC?

**TBC**

_**Authors Note: I have a few more chapters planned to tie things up.**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Authors Note: Still don't own them people**_!

His eyes opened to bright sunlight, and he blinked rapidly against the invasion of light into his brain. Where was he? The ceiling was white tile above him, not smooth beige drywall like his apartment. He turned his head and saw dark curls on his chest. Stella? His brain told him it was her even though his eyes didn't believe what he was seeing.

He was reminded of his gunshot wound by the stabbing pain in his side. Now he remembered that he was in the hospital. His head whirled when he tried once again to move, and he groaned. He was so dizzy and sick to his stomach. The head of curly hair turned and sleepily looked at him. It was Stella, her lovely green eyes widened, and before he could say anything, she was kissing him. She pulled back when he didn't respond to her affection.

"Don, honey what's wrong baby are you in pain, should I get the doctor?" Her face was the only thing he could see, and he remembered what he heard her say, how long ago had it been? What was she doing here, she didn't love him anymore so why was she at his bedside.

"Stella," his voice cracked. She moved out of his line of sight, and the bed began to move. He groaned as it lifted.

"Enough, I'm getting dizzy," he complained.

She brought a glass of water to him, and helped him arrange the straw under his tongue. He sucked it down greedily and groaned with pleasure at the taste of the cool drink. She pulled the cup away from him, and set it down on the table next to the metal stand that held the IV bag that was infusing into one arm.

"Hey, I wasn't done with that," he protested when she took away the water.

"The doc said you couldn't have a lot of water till they know how it will set on your stomach." She pushed the hair out of his eyes and he pulled away with a scowl.

"What are you doing here Stella; I thought you'd be with your precious Mac."

She reared back in surprise then her eyes took on a look that Flack had seen before. He knew when she looked like that not to mess with her, but he was in pain and he was pissed. No one played him for a fool and got away with it.

"Donald Flack, how could you say something like that to me when I've been here for hours waiting for you to wake up? You scared me to death." She pulled away from him, and sat back down in the chair. Her green eyes continued to burn into him, but he didn't look away.

"You left before, I heard you talking to Mac, don't deny it!"

"Yes, I left for exactly 3 hours and 7mins are you happy. We had a psycho to catch." She stood over him now her eyes blazing and he was reminded of when Aiden had died and how she'd looked when DJ Pratt was brought into interrogation.

_Careful Don… she might rip the IV needle out of your arm and feed it to you for breakfast. Now wait, you're an NYPD Detective you are not afraid of her, right? _

"… I'm out there with Mac and the FBI busting our asses to save Peyton and get the asshole that did this to you, and you lay there and accuse me of…"

She threw up her hands and turned to walk out of the room. "Stel, wait please!" His resolve to let her go and not care crumbled the minute she turned her back on him.

She didn't turn she just stood at the door with her back to him. "I don't understand what's going on. I know what I heard you say, but you're here and I'm really confused."

When she turned around he saw that she was crying silently. His resolve to harden his heart to her crumbled at the sight of the tears glinting on her cheeks. He'd only seen her weep one time, and he remembered swearing to himself that he would never make her cry.

"I don't know why you're saying these things to me Don; I'm going to pretend that it's pain, or drugs, or just plain male stupidity and forgive you." She had moved to his bed and stood staring at him with her arms crossed.

"Well Donald Flack… what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I…I heard what you said to Mac on the phone." He hoped he didn't sound as lame as he felt.

"What did I say?" Her eyebrows were raised and he couldn't see it, but he was sure her foot was tapping on the tile floor.

"You said that you loved him, that you wanted to make him happy." He was feeling more lame and humiliated by the minute.

"Don… have you lost your mind, or is it really the drugs that have screwed up your head? I told him that I cared for him and I wanted him to be happy. The man was out of his mind, he loves Peyton and this whole kidnapping business was making him crazy." She was back to pacing up and down in front of him, and his neck was beginning to ache just watching her move and gesture widely with her hands.

Abruptly she came to a halt in front of his bed. "You get this straight in your head right now Detective Flack, I love you and only you, but I am not giving up my friendship with Mac. If you can deal with that, then I might pretend none of this happened, if you can't then we're done, are we clear?"

"Yeah Stel, we're clear, does it make any difference if I tell you I was strung out on drugs at the time?" He crossed his fingers under the blanket.

He saw her relax just a fraction, and his own heart began to slow down from its frantic beating. He was still a bit dizzy though, he didn't trust his own impressions.

She heaved a sigh and sat down on the edge of the chair. She picked up is left hand and entwined it with her own.

"Mac needed me, and so did you. I was so torn; I didn't know what to do. You were asleep when I left, I thought I could go help with the case while you slept and then come back, and I did come back. Do you think I would have if I were only interested in Mac?" She had a death grip on his hand but he didn't protest, the pain was good; it kept his head clear of all the stupid things he'd been thinking.

"I'm sorry Stella, I should have trusted you."

"Yes, you should have, but as I've said I'll chalk it up to mental impairment and let it go. She stood up and moved closer to him. The faint scent of her perfume fell over him and she kissed him. The touch of her lips was a soothing balm to his soul, and he never wanted her to go away again.

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Derek Morgan shifted the brown paper bag he carried to his left hand while he swiped his card key in the lock. Reid was awake and doing fine. Morgan had left the hospital without seeing the young man. He figured that since Reid was angry enough to take a swipe at him, then maybe it was better that he stay away.

He got the door open, and he set the bag down on the table before shucking off his jacket and his shoulder holster and badge. He opened a bag, and pulled out a tee shirt and sweat pants to change into. When he was comfortable and he'd made a phone call, he was going to get falling down drunk.

He picked up his phone and hit the speed dial. The phone rang, and rang and then went to voice mail. He didn't bother to leave a message. He couldn't believe that she didn't answer the phone; she never ignored a call from him.

_Fuck, just what the hell was she doing?_

He tossed the phone down on the bed, and went to the paper bag on the table. He pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels and looked around for a glass. He was about to resign himself to drinking straight out of the bottle, when he remembered there were glasses in the bathroom with the ice bucket.

He went into the bathroom with its white tiles, and white towels and silver fixtures. Why were all hotel bathrooms the same, so antiseptic, so cold? He picked up one of the hard plastic glasses on the counter top, and ripped off the paper wrapper. He went back to his room, picked up the bottle of whiskey and twisted off the top. He sat down on one of the green and yellow plaid chairs next to the table, and poured out a drink. He threw it back coughing and spluttering over the bitter taste of the drink. It was warm going down, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he forgot that Reid and Penelope hated him.

He was working on his second drink when there was a knock at his door. He tried to ignore it, but the pounding continued.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming God damn it."

He pulled open the door and stood staring stupidly at Emily Prentiss. "What do you want?"

"I was worried about you; you left the hospital without seeing Reid and I -"

"Well don't be, I can handle my own problems, good night." He tried to shut the door but she put a hand on his arm.

"Derek please… just tell me what is going on with you, ever since we got here you've been acting strange."

He studied her for a moment. She was very beautiful and she seemed to understand him like no one else did. He opened the door wider and let her come in.

"You want a drink?"

"No, I don't, but I do want to talk to you."

"Talk… talk… that's all anyone, wants to do. I want to drink, the case is over, everyone is safe and sound, and I want to get stupid if you don't mind."

She stood watching him for a minute, her dark eyes trying to look into a soul that hid behind a façade of his bad boy image. She sat down in the other chair and accepted the drink.

"Okay, I'm drinking with you, so are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to guess."

He rubbed at his sore chin and poured himself another drink. "Reid hit me," he said without preamble.

"Reid hit you, and you didn't flatten him. No… I don't believe it… tell me what really happened." She indicated that he could pour her another drink.

"He clobbered me, I didn't see it comin. Who knew the kid had fists of stone." He touched his chin again and winced.

"What did you do to piss him off?"

So between drinks Morgan told her everything, his voice getting louder, and more slurred with each drink. She continued to match him drink for drink.

"You don't look surprised that Garcia is ignorin me," he sloshed more whiskey in his glass and drank it down.

"She's right, you're a real jackass, and I'm surprised she hasn't done it before now."

"Thanks Prentiss, why don't you get outta here, I don't need your criticism too."

"Fine, I'm outta here, and next time you get assigned a room next the JJ and Reid, I won't feel sorry for you and trade." She got to her feet and swayed a bit. He put out a hand automatically to steady her and she pulled away nearly falling back into the chair.

"Don't touch me!"

He got swaying to his feet and grabbed her arm. "Let go of me Morgan or I'll do more than deck you."

He was staring straight into her eyes, and she wanted to run away, far away because his depthless eyes were making her heart speed up. He pulled her close and kissed her. She pulled away breathless and dizzy. "Don't Morgan, I know you don't want me, it's her you want."

"Penelope isn't here, you are." He kissed her again, placing a hand behind her head. His tongue found its way into her mouth. Shivers ran up his spine and he ignored the voice that told him it wasn't right what he was doing.

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Penelope had just finished making plans to meet up with Adam in New York when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and froze. Why was he calling her, the case was over and after his stunt in the lab she didn't want to talk to him. In fact she never wanted to speak to him again. She put the phone down and waited till it quit ringing.

Damn him, he flirted with her for years and the very hour she decides to forget about him and go for it with Adam, he goes into a jealous snit. Well that didn't fly, not with Penelope Garcia. She picked up the phone and made a couple of calls.

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Adam had just crawled into bed after a long chat with Penelope. He wanted to sleep, he was so tired, but it was the middle of the morning and he couldn't stop thinking about her. He couldn't believe that someone so beautiful, and smart, and funny liked him. It was like the universe had suddenly fallen out of order and any moment now the sun would go nova and all life would end. Okay so maybe that was overstating things just a tad, but honestly, he was a nerd, he accepted that about himself, he was even proud of it.

Being a nerd meant that the pretty girls ignored you for the most part, but not Penelope, she thought he was cute and sweet and smart. He still couldn't believe it, and she was coming out to see him, tomorrow for three whole days. His thoughts chased themselves around, and around in his head for a long time while he shifted around trying to get comfortable.

He was just drifting off when his cell rang, "Fuck!" He picked it up and decided if it was work he was going to pretend that he hadn't heard it ring. It wasn't work; it was a number he didn't recognize.

"Ross here, this better be good."

"Adam," a watery voice said

"Penelope, is that you," He realized he was grinning like an idiot, and then he realized she was crying.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I really need to get out of Quantico, do you mind if I take a train into the city today. I have a hotel and everything; I just need to get out of town."

"Sure, I'd love to see you; I'll pick you up at Grand Central." He climbed out of bed and was trying to dress and talk at the same time.

"No, you don't have to do that, I can get a cab."

"No way, not in New York, I'll pick you up." He repeated firmly.

He noticed that she'd stopped crying and his heart began to sing again. "Thanks Adam, sorry for crying, I'm not myself today."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Now I am sugar, see you soon."

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Reid opened his eyes and tried to stretch. He found this to be impossible because of the weight on his upper body. He panicked for a moment thinking he'd been paralyzed somehow, then he look down and saw that at sometime during the day, JJ had climbed into the hospital bed with him. She lay with her head on his chest and she was sound asleep.

He stroked a hand through her long blond hair; she whimpered and then went silent again. He distinctly remembered telling her to go back to their hotel room to get some rest after all of his teammates had been in to see him. He even remembered her kissing him goodbye, why had she come back?

Gideon and Hotch had left once they assured themselves that he was okay and would be released soon. Hotch wanted to get back to Virginia and his wife and son, so he and Gideon had taken the jet, after promising to send it back for them tomorrow morning.

Reid moved his hand to JJ's back and began to rub it, hoping to wake her up. He needed to pee pretty badly. She only sighed and slept on. He rubbed harder and when that failed to get a response, he began to shake her shoulder. "Come on JJ… wake up baby."

She turned over and shifted her weight to one side; her eyes were still tightly closed when he sat up and wiggled out from under her. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He staggered a bit and nearly sat down, and then the dizziness was gone. He took one step and heard a sleepy giggle from behind.

He turned to find her grinning at him her cheeks a little pink. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Isn't it a little drafty back there?"

"What…" he angled his head around and saw that a couple of the ties on his hospital johnnie had come untied.

"Shit!" He exclaimed turning crimson.

JJ sat all the way up and began to laugh, "Don't tell me you're embarrassed baby, this isn't the first time I've seen your naked ass."

"That's really funny, ha ha…"

"I'm sorry Spence I couldn't help myself."

The pattern of his gown was imprinted on her face and her hair was messy, but she was still beautiful so he decided to forgive her. He turned again, this time holding the gown closed and headed for the bathroom.

"Hey, where ya going."

"I need to pee if you don't mind," he said irritably.

He heard her get up off the bed. "Wait a minute let me help you."

"JJ I love you, you're my world, but I am not an invalid and I have been going to the toilet on my own for over 22 years, so back off." This he threw over his shoulder as he entered the bathroom. He slammed the door.

"Just yell it you need anything," JJ rapped on the door.

"_Go away, can't a guy have any privacy!" _

There was a knock on the door to the hallway and Dr. Schwartz opened the door. "Everyone decent," he said grinning at JJ who was sitting on a chair and laughing.

"Well, I see your in a good mood, how is my patient?" He came further into the room and looked at the empty hospital bed.

By the time JJ had filled him in on just how well Spence was doing, the doctor was smiling even wider. Spencer exited the bathroom and scowled at both the doctor and his girlfriend.

"How are you doing Dr. Reid?"

"I keep telling you I'm fine, when can I get out of here?" He went back to the bed and sat down on the edge.

The doctor held out a clip board to him. "You have some mighty persuasive friends and girlfriend. I'm releasing you on the condition that you go back to your hotel and rest. That means staying in bed till tomorrow morning. Its 4 pm now, get dressed and I'll have you out of here in an hour."

"Thanks doc." Spencer said smiling for the first time since JJ had awoken.

"Don't thank me, as I said your friends wouldn't leave me alone till I okayed it. Now sit back, I have a few more tests to do."

**TBC**


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/n thank again to all who've supported this story. I still don't own anything from either show, although after last night I wish I did!!**_

Reid sat tying his shoelaces when there was a knock at the door. "Come on in," JJ called.

The door opened, and Mac entered with Peyton, who was in a wheelchair. She was fully dressed and looked very happy.

"Detective Taylor, how are you?" JJ said standing up to meet them. She was glad to see him smile, he'd looked so very sad to her over the last two days.

"I'm good, it's Agent Jareau right?" He pushed Peyton over to Reid's hospital bed.

"Yes, but please call me JJ everyone does."

"Okay, if you call me Mac, and this is Peyton Driscoll I don't think you two have met."

"It's nice to meet you; Spence has been talking about you a little." She took the other woman's hand briefly in hers.

"I'm pleased to meet you JJ. She turned to Reid who had one leg up on the bed, and was swinging the other over the edge. JJ thought he looked about ten years old and completely adorable.

"Dr Reid, I heard you're getting out of here, so I wanted to come by and say thank you."

He flushed and looked at the toes of his sneakers. "I didn't do anything Peyton it was my team."

"That's not true Dr Reid we saw the tape, you tried to save Peyton from a horrible attack, I won't forget it," Mac said.

He flushed a deeper red when Peyton put a hand on his. "Thank you Spencer," she simply said. He looked up and saw unshed tears in her eyes. "You're welcome," he said softly.

"Look, we can't stay, Peyton is getting released as well, and I want to get her home and resting."

"He's such a Mum today." Peyton said winking a Reid, who grinned.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that Dr. Driscoll." He turned back to Spencer. "Please tell your supervisors that I'm grateful for all you guys did, you saved Peyton and Reed from a monster, so you're always welcome at the New York City Crime Lab."

"Thanks Mac." JJ said as they couple turned to leave.

"Goodbye Spencer," Peyton called back over her shoulder.

"Bye," he answered getting off the bed and walking over to JJ. He wrapped his arms around her. It was so good to have her in his arms again. He kissed the top of her head.

"Dr Reid," a voice came from the doorway. A short, plump, black haired nurse with black twinkling eyes pushed a wheelchair into the room.

"Hi Katie," He said eyeing the wheelchair with distrust. "JJ this is Katie, the nurse."

"We've already met, it's nice to see you again Agent Jareau." She smiled brightly at JJ and then turned to Reid.

"You ready to get out of here doctor," She indicated the wheelchair and he frowned.

"I can walk, I don't need that."

"Spencer, don't pout and don't make the nice nurse's job any harder than it has been." JJ said with a wink at Katie.

"Hey, I've been a good patient, right?" His eyes pleaded with the nurse to agree with him. She grinned at JJ and said in a tone used for placating small children. "Yes Dr. Reid, you've been a great patient."

"You don't have to patronize me you know." He let go of JJ and folded his arms defiantly.

"We're not patronizing you Spence, but for someone that wants out of here as badly as you seem to, you're not cooperating very well." JJ explained, with a chuckle.

"Oh alright… I'll get in the damn wheelchair if it makes you happy." He dropped down into the chair and glared at Katie.

"It makes me very happy," she said, pushing him out of the door, followed by JJ who was laughing.

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Emily opened her eyes and noticed three things; the wallpaper in front of her was an ugly sunflower print instead of red and gold stripes. Her stomach was upset and she was naked.

_Fuck, what the hell did I do?_

Then she remembered and she froze, afraid to turn over and confront the other person in the bed with her. She decided if she just got up and didn't look at him, she could find her clothes, get dressed and get the hell out of the room, before he woke up. Yeah… that's a good plan; that will work. She got out of bed as quietly as she could and began to look for her clothes. Her head was pounding and she was dizzy. She wondered what time it was. She didn't think enough time had passed for her to sober up completely, but she was getting there.

She tripped over one high heel while looking for her bra. She tried to keep her eyes off of him, but failed miserably. He was lying on his back sleeping and looking so good, she wanted to get back into bed and wake him up for round three. Then her good sense finally asserted itself when she found her panties and blouse. She put them on and looked around for her skirt.

He was so hot, and even though he'd been almost too drunk to stand up hours ago, he'd been a fantastic lover. She could still feel his hands on her breasts and his lips on hers. She located her skirt on the other side of the small table and put it on. What he'd done to her had defied description, or maybe it was just her. The fact was that she'd had very few lovers and she'd never had an orgasm. She'd counted four with Morgan. She sat down on the chair and put on her shoes.

She'd gotten what she wanted by default. She'd been crushing on Morgan for months, but she knew that Garcia had strong feelings for him, and she thought he felt the same way, but was too stubborn and independent to do anything about it. Emily had tried to stay away because she thought those two would one day admit how they felt about each other, and that would be that. Then this case had come along and Morgan had ruined his chance with Penelope, or so it had seemed to her. Emily wanted to believe he felt something for her. She wanted to believe he cared for her and wasn't just using her.

She got up, and opened the door to the room. She stepped out and turned toward her room, and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the two people that turned the corner and walked towards her.

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Adam carried her suitcase to the elevator. He'd expected her to have more luggage but she only laughed and said that packing more then one bag for three days was just too much. He loved to listen to her talk, she was funny and she flirted shamelessly with him, something he wasn't used to. The ride over from the noisy and overcrowded Grand Central Station had been short because of her company, and he had been overjoyed to find out her hotel was near the lab. He had to work the next day so maybe they could have lunch without going across the city.

It was six pm when they got on the elevator to the 5th floor. It was a pleasant ride up, neither spoke but it wasn't an awkward silence either.

"So, how's everyone?" I was really glad to hear that the ME is okay." Garcia asked as the doors opened.

"Yeah, she's okay. I talked to Stella and she told me Peyton is going home tonight." He said following her out to the hallway with her bag.

"That's great, I'm glad for you guys. I hope my sweet Reid is okay, I guess I'll have to call the hospital tonight." She rounded the corner and began to watch for room 519.

"Hey," Adam said in a low voice. "Isn't that one of your agents, looks like she got lucky?" He pointed down the hallway to Emily.

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Garcia looked up in surprise. Emily was looking really disheveled; her blouse was torn and buttoned crookedly. She'd never seen the otherwise immaculately dressed Agent look like that.

She locked eyes with Emily and wondered about the surprised dismay she saw in the agent's eyes.

"Hey Emily, who's the lucky guy," She quipped, and then her world caved in when the door behind the agent opened and Morgan stuck his head out.

"Hey… where ya going beautiful. You forgot something." Emily turned back to shush him and he tossed her bra to her.

Garcia couldn't believe her eyes. Morgan looked at her and smiled stupidly, "Hey baby-girl you didn't have to come all the way to New York to apologize, you could've called."

"Shut up Derek," Emily hissed at him. Garcia was white-faced and trembling.

"Apologize, you think I'm here to apologize, and after you… with her… I -" Penelope knew she shouldn't shout but she couldn't help it. This couldn't be happening. She was there to spend time with Adam, not deal with Morgan.

"Penelope, please don't shout." Emily interjected, and flinched when Garcia strode up to her. Her eyes were blazing and full of tears.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do you bitch?" She reached out and slapped Emily as hard as she could.

"Penelope, I'm sorry, I -"

"Shut up, get out of my sight!"

Emily turned, threw Morgan a hateful look, and Penelope watched her walk away. She ignored the look of incredulity on Adam's face.

"As for you Morgan, I outta rip your balls off and feed them to the pigeons." She advanced on him and he had the good sense to begin to look slightly wary.

"I see your new geeky friend is with you, did he come up here for a quick fuck?"

She was stunned, he'd never spoken to her like this, who the fuck did he think he was. "Shut up Morgan it's none of your damn business." They were standing toe to toe, and she wanted to slap him like she had Emily.

"What is going on? We can hear you two all the way down the hallway." Reid's voice came from the hall near Adam.

"Stay out of this Reid; this is between me and Morgan." She pushed him back into the room and followed him, slamming the door behind her.

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Reid looked at JJ who was looking at Adam, who was looking at the door to Morgan's room. "What's going on," Reid demanded of Adam, who was looking like he'd just swallowed vinegar… on purpose.

"I don't know, Penelope came up to stay for a few days and I picked her up at the train station and we came here, because this is where she's staying and then… I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders and looked miserable.

"Ah - so you're Adam." Reid asked, beginning to understand the other man's distress. "Trust me; she likes you, she's just clearing up a few things with my incredibly blind and stupid colleague. Why don't you go into her room, she'll be back looking for you, I promise."

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"Are you out of your fucking mind Morgan? How dare you talk to me or my friend that way?"

She jabbed one finger into his bare chest, and a secret part of her cheered when contact with his bare skin didn't send her into ecstasy. She jabbed him again and he retreated from her.

"You've got some kind of nerve assuming I came here to apologize and beg your forgiveness. You're the one that made the scene in the lab. Didn't you think when I didn't answer your call today that just maybe I didn't want to talk to you?"

"Sweetness I -"

"Don't call me that, you don't ever get to call me that again." She shoved him hard and he sat down on the messy bed, that, and the lingering smell of sex confirmed all she'd seen in the hallway. Tears began to fall, because she had loved him and she was humiliated that he would fall into bed with Emily Prentiss this way.

"Baby-Girl I know you don't believe me, but I do love you," He said, looking up at her.

She moved away from him to stand by the far wall, she couldn't stand to be close to him. "I do believe you, I think you care in your own way, and it isn't the way I want or need. Can't you just accept that and let me be happy with Adam. He's a sweet guy and he likes me for who I am. I'm not a convenient friend he can tease and flirt with when the urge is there." She watched him frown over this for awhile, and she made herself close her heart to the hurt that had come into his eyes when he looked up at her.

Heart pounding, she crossed back to him and put a hand on his face. "I'll always care for you Derek Morgan, but I can't do this anymore. Goodbye."

"Penelope… wait please!"

"No… I'm here for Adam not you!" She ran out the door slamming it behind her.

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He waited in her room pacing up and down, wondering if she'd come here just to make that other guy jealous and if she had he wouldn't stand for it. He may be a nerd but no one made a fool out of Adam Ross. He went to the door and put his hand on the knob. A knock sounded from the other side and he started in surprise.

"Adam, the door's locked and you have my key card." Her voice came from the other side. She was back; she hadn't stayed with the other guy. His heart began to beat again. He opened the door and she was crying but she was also smiling at him.

"Penelope, is everything ok? He stepped back to let her in.

"No, but it will be." She stepped up to him and kissed him firmly.

Something leapt up into his chest that he'd never felt before. Everything was going so fast, but his connection to her wasn't something he could deny. It was like he found the missing part of his soul, in her eyes.

He gently pushed her back. "Penelope, I - don't you think we should slow down?"

"No, sweet boy I don't, please don't push me away. I like you a lot and I want to be with you. I want to go wherever this takes us. He looked into her eyes that were so unhappy and he knew he could never resist her.

He threw out all of his doubt and reached out a trembling hand to touch her face. "Are you sure Pen?"

Her answer was to kiss him senseless. When he could think again his shirt was gone and he was unbuttoning her blouse, he pushed it down her arms and lowered his head to kiss her breasts through the red lace bra she wore.

He felt her tense in his arms and he looked up. She looked like a deer in the headlights. "Baby, what's wrong." She struggled out of his arms and ran to the light switch. She turned it off and plunged them into darkness, broken only by the light seeping in around the curtains.

"What did you do that for?" He demanded.

"Well the sun is going down and it'll be dark outside soon so -"

He couldn't see her face but he heard something in her voice that told him she was making an excuse. "Penelope, what is it, tell me!"

"I - I'm not perfect!" She blurted out suddenly and he could hear the tears in her voice."

"You're not perfect, what the hell are you talking about."

"I d-don't have a perfect body, I'm not s-skinny and beautiful l-like JJ or E-Emily." He heard her spit out into the darkness.

He understood suddenly why she was upset, and he damned the FBI agent that she worked with in his head. "Baby, is that what you think, that the guy you work with likes perfect women and that's why he slept with your so called friend?"

She sniffed and didn't say anything. "If he does then he's a fucking idiot," Adam said, he pulled the zipper on his jeans and quickly shed the rest of his clothes including his shoes and socks. He heard her gasp and he moved past her, his eyes accustomed to the half light and he found the light switch. She was looking at the floor when the lights came on again.

"Look at me," he commanded. "See how imperfect I am with your own eyes."

He endured her scrutiny for a silent moment then he asked her a question. "Do you know why there's very little full frontal male nudity in movies?"

She grinned at him and shot back, "because God is a man?"

"Cute, Penelope very cute. He took her hand and pushed her down on the edge of the bed. He sat next to her. "In an interview a studio executive once said that the reason you don't see that in the movies, is that the male member isn't attractive."

Penelope snorted out a laugh and Adam grinned. "So here I am in all my naked glory and my unattractive male member."

"Okay you made your point." She took off her shoes then she stood and took off the rest of her clothes.

Adam whistled appreciatively when she stood before him unclothed. "Girl you ain't got nothin on Marilyn Monroe."

"What," she said narrowing her eyes at him her hands going to her hips.

"Marilyn Monroe, one of the worlds most beautiful women, she had what they used to call an hour glass figure. She didn't have six pack abs or skinny thighs, she was full figured. Women used to look like that before society began to tell us we have to be ultra skinny and perfect."

He saw the relief come into her eyes and he stood up turned down the bed and said, "Make yourself comfortable my lady." He watched her get into the bed and take off her glasses. He flipped off the lights.

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She panicked a little when he turned off the lights since she was already blind without her glasses, but then he climbed into the bed and kissed her. His hands wrapped around her. As they moved over her body, she forgot what her eyes couldn't see. She felt his breath on her neck then his mouth found her lips again. His hands continued to move all over her upper body, and his mouth moved down to nip at her breasts.

Now, her near blindness turned the world into a slow, erotic dream. Their bodies joined after long agonizing minutes of stroking and kissing. In the half dark, half light world she fell under him rocking to the edge of sweet, tortuous bliss. The agony ended in a burst of wild pleasure that made her cry out his name. He followed her into sweet release after two more, slow, deep thrusts. It was over, he lay on top of her kissing her neck and then her mouth while his hands brushed back her sweat soaked hair from her forehead.

"I think I'm falling in love with you Penelope Garcia."


	22. Chapter 22

**Authors Note**_: Okay some of Adams dialogue is taken from one of my favorite movies, virtual cookies to the person that can guess the movie. Thanks for your continued support. A virtual Adam plushie goes to Aelia O'Hession for posting the 100__th__ review for this story. Thanks again to all who've commented_.

Adam Ross stood next to the printer in the lab waiting for the DNA results to print out. He was smiling and whistling tunelessly through his teeth. The machine beeped, and the information he needed spit out of the printer and onto the tray next to it. He picked it up, scanned the test results and turned to go find Mac.

He reared back in surprise when he nearly knocked Danny over. "Fuck Messer, what the hell are you doing just standing there?"

"Jesus Ross, you're a little tense buddy." Danny was grinning widely at him.

"Why are you just standing there?" Adam repeated sliding by Danny and heading for the lab door.

"I came in here to fume the bathroom window from the Jepson murder. So I'm walking past ya right, and I realize that ya smell like flowers. Did ya get new cologne or is that perfume I smell?"

He'd followed Adam down the hall, and he motioned to Sheldon when he rounded the corner.  
"Hawkes, come over here, take a sniff, is that perfume or not?"

"Shut up Messer!" Adam said, beginning to blush.

Hawkes raised an eyebrow when Adam turned red. He walked up and sniffed like a puppy in the flower patch.

"Whoa," Adam said backing away from Hawkes and into the far wall. "Personal space issues, this is my dance space, that's your's." He said gesturing wildly. "You don't go into mine I don't go into your's."

"You know," Sheldon said smirking at Danny and ignoring Adam , "I think you're right, that is perfume." He and Danny folded their arms and faced Adam, blocking his path.

"So… did someone get lucky last night?" Danny said in a sing song tone.

"Yeah, Adam who is she?" Sheldon said his smile so wide it threatened to split his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He tried to be blasé but he could see they weren't buying it.

"I've got to get these test results to Mac."

Danny stepped in front of him when Adam tried to go around him. "Mac can wait; we want to know all about last night."

"There was no last night!"

"Adam, it's me an Hawkes here, we ain't gonna tell anyone else, right Hawkes?" He glanced at the other CSI.

"Of course not, cross my heart and hope to die." He crossed his heart like a school boy.

"No way, you guys couldn't keep a secret if your lives depended on it."

"Ah - ha so there is a secret," Danny pounced.

_Good job Ross, why don't you just wear a sign around your neck that says: Guess what everyone; I got my brains fucked out last night.  
_

"Come on Ross, tell us about her." Sheldon said noticing that Ross was now crimson in the face.

"You guys swear you won't tell anyone." Adam begged, his back still against the wall in more ways than one.

"Oh we swear," the two men said in unison and they both tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Fine her names Penelope Garcia and she's beautiful, and sweet, and funny. She's a hacker with the FBI."

"She's one of those guys that were here to help find Peyton right." Hawkes said.

"How did you know that?" Adam said, he should've known better, Sheldon knew all the office gossip. The only person that had more information on the happenings in the lab, was Stella.

"You know Harris in the lab; he was there yesterday when you and the FBI tech were working on the computer problem. He said you dropped two pens, a test tube, four glass slides, and -"

"Okay, I don't need an accounting of all the city property I damaged." Adam said irritably.

"You must have it bad my friend if you were that nervous." Danny was way too happy with this information, and Adam's hopes were dashed that this would stay out of the ears of the rest of the lab.

"So spill, what happened last night?" Sheldon asked still grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

"I don't kiss and tell." Adam stated flatly, knowing they wouldn't let it go at that.

"Oh…so there was kissing involved." Danny said. "What else did you do besides kiss the girl?"

"That's none of your business," Adam insisted trying to get past the men, only to be blocked by Danny again.

"Hey Danny… I think he's in love what do you think?" Sheldon said, openly laughing now.

Danny studied him the way an archeologist might study a cave painting. "Yeah," he finally said, "I think he is, ain't that sweet."

"What's sweet," Mac said from behind them. His eyes bored into Adam and the man blushed again.

"Nothing sir, they're just -"

"Adam has a new girlfriend," Hawkes informed their boss, as though he was passing along information that would solve the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

"Really, who is she?" Mac asked and Adam didn't dare refuse to answer. He told Mac all about Garcia.

"I think I'll tell her not to come here for lunch now, I don't want her subjected to these two." He gestured at Danny and Sheldon.

"No, don't keep her away, her team found Peyton and saved Reed, she's always welcome here. I'd love to meet the woman that fixed our computer system." His eyes told Adam he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Sheldon and Danny beamed at Adam when his shoulders slumped in defeat and he nodded. "Yes sir," he said to Mac, glaring at the other CSIs.

"Now that we've cleared that up, may I please have the DNA results from the Hernandez case?"

"Ah - yeah sorry sir," Adam handed the paper to Mac and fled, pushing his way past his two so called friends.

Mac grinned and winked at Sheldon and Danny before turning back to his office.

The two men hurried to catch up with Adam. "Hey Ross, you didn't fill us in on the details," Danny called after him.

"Yeah, you can't just leave it at that," Sheldon said.

Morgan was the first to arrive, taking a taxi to the airport instead of waiting to ride over with the rest of the team. They were getting a ride with the same detective that picked them up two days ago. Had it been only two days since they'd arrived, it seemed like a lifetime ago. He lie down on the bench and put on his head phones. It was cowardly, but he didn't want to face Reid or Emily.

He was just drifting off to sleep when there was a poke to his upper arm, a hard poke. He ignored it and was poked again. "Damn it can't a person get some sleep," he demanded opening his eyes and glaring at Reid, who was glaring down at him.

"No, _you_ can't, I came to your room to talk to you this morning and you were already gone," Reid said as he sat down across from his partner. JJ was on the other side of him, and she looked like she was staying out of the discussion.

Emily was at the other end of the cabin facing away from them. Morgan saw Reid looking at her with open distrust, and he was surprised to feel anger toward the young man.

"Morgan… what the hell is wrong with you?" Reid asked suddenly.

"I don't want to talk to you about this; it's none of your business."

"Yes it is, she's my friend and I thought she was yours as well," Reid said. Morgan could see that his temper was held in check by JJ's hand on his arm.

"What happens between Garcia and me is none of your affair."

"Interesting choice of words, Morgan."

"Don't profile me Reid, you know nothing about me," Morgan said. He was beginning to regret getting on the plane. He should have taken the train home.

"Really, I know that Garcia is a wonderful person, she loved you and you ignored her. What does that say about you?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Morgan glared at Reid. Too bad the young man wasn't afraid of him.

"No, you don't have to explain yourself to me, but you do have to talk to Garcia, she was crying last night."

"She has someone else to wipe away her tears; she doesn't need me or you." Morgan shot back.

"You just don't get it do you?" Reid asked shaking his head in disbelief.

"No, you don't get it. She told me in no uncertain terms to stay out of her life. I intend to do so."

"Morgan -"

"No Reid, you need to back off, I'll deal with my own problems in my own way."

The four of them were silent for the rest of the trip. JJ fell asleep with her head pillowed on Reid's shoulder. Morgan went back to his music and Emily never moved from her seat. When they landed Morgan tried to talk to Emily but she told him to go to hell and she drove away, leaving him alone. God, what had he done and how could he fix it?

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Hotch stood looking out over the bullpen. The scene was much the same as it had been ten days ago. Reid was talking to JJ at his desk. Morgan wasn't in the room and Emily was at her desk. He knew a little of what had happened in New York after he'd come home, and he hoped that it wouldn't encroach upon their work time, but that didn't look possible at this point.

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She saw him in the reflection of her computer screen. Her heart began to pound. She hadn't seen or spoken to him for over a week. He'd tried to call her, but she'd ignored him.

She'd stayed on in New York for her entire week of vacation, making friends with Adam's friends in the lab. She'd checked out of the hotel after the first day, and stayed at Adam's apartment for the rest of the week.

"Baby-girl, will you ever speak to me again?" His velvety voice floated over to her.

"Sure baby cakes, how else can I help the team?" Her hands never faltered on the keyboard of the computer she faced.

"You know what I mean?"

"Do I," she asked pushing away from one computer on her rolling chair to the one down the wall.

"Yes baby… I'm so sorry for last week I never wanted to hurt you." He walked over and leaned against her desk. "Look at me gorgeous."

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She looked up at him with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen and he knew at last that she no longer loved him. There was happiness there, but it wasn't because of anything he'd done. There was unhappiness there, but he knew that was because the person she loved was in another state.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me and be my friend again, I miss you?" He pleaded.

"I'm not mad at you anymore Morgan, but I don't trust you either, you'll have to earn that back."

"I know Penelope. Will you let me begin today?" He looked down at her with those dark eyes that used to hypnotize her, now they were only eyes. She was glad.

"Sure, honey whatever you want, just don't expect me to be at your beck and call anymore. Adam is my priority now."

"Does he love you Pen?"

She wanted to tell him it was none of his business, instead she said. "Yes he does, he's wonderful."

"I'm glad," he said sincerely.

JJ appeared in the doorway. "Conference room in five guys, we've got a case.

"Morgan, do you love Emily?"

He stood in the doorway for a long time with his back to her. "I don't know," he finally said. He looked back at her. "I'd sure like to find out."

"Okay, let's get to work, sugar." She followed him to the conference room and he felt better than he had in days. She hadn't completely forgiven him, but he had hope that someday she would.

A/n one more chapter everyone


	23. Chapter 23

_A/n here it is the last chapter. Thank's to my wonderful beta REIDFANATIC for all of her help with this. Thanks again to everyone that has supported this story, I have had a great time writing it. _

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride." The minister said to him, with a smile and was that a wink?

He took her in his arms, and kissed her softly. He could hear somewhere in the back of his mind the cheers and catcalls from the congregation. It was like a far off radio signal. His senses were blocked from hearing it clearly by her scent, full of lilacs and promise. Her mouth was soft under his, her full lips, ripe and velvety like the petals of the roses scattered around the church.

He pulled away and looked down into the beautiful eyes he loved, the tears in them overflowed under his gaze. He thanked God for her. She'd come to him at the right moment, even though he didn't know it at the time. Why had it taken him so long to realize that she was the only one for him?

The minister said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Mac Taylor."

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"What a beautiful wedding," Emily said with a sigh from her place to the left of JJ. She forked up more of the cake in front of her; anything chocolate was okay by her. Her hair was coming down out of its upswept do and she pushed it away impatiently.

"I can't believe how many people are here, is this all cops," JJ asked Lindsay who sat across from her, and who was trying to keep Christopher from crawling off her lap, and into the crowd of dancers that overran the dance floor in front of them.

"Yep… for the most part, we also have you, so the FBI is represented, and there's a bunch of firefighters, and medics and Marines." Lindsay explained pulling her son's cake smeared hand out of her hair.

"When you're the head of one of the biggest crime labs in the country and an ex-marine you've got a lot of friends." Stella observed, looking around for her errant husband.

"He's over there with Adam, and the rest of the guys. I think they're all giving Mac last minute advice, except for Sheldon and Morgan of course." Penelope said, beaming at her husband of six months.

"Hey Emily, when are you going to make an honest man out of Morgan?" Stella asked, her hand caressing her slight baby bump.

"Maybe I'm waiting for him to make an honest woman out of me," Emily shot back." She tried to smile but inside she was unhappy. She hadn't wanted to come to this wedding, it reminded her that for the last eighteen months she'd tried to move their relationship along, she didn't want to just live with him anymore, she wanted to be his wife, have his babies.

"Hey Emily… you okay!" JJ's voice broke through her thoughts. Emily looked up and saw another happy woman sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that we have quite the baby boom going on here, I guess law enforcement is a fertile bunch, at least in this group."

"Well it's not like Don and I could wait for years to have a baby I'm not exactly a spring chicken," Stella said grinning at the look on Lindsay's face. "Come on Linds, don't look at me that way, you know it's true."

"I wasn't looking at you any special way."

"Yes, you were it was the - Stella's whining about her age look - again."

Lindsay pulled a knife out of Christopher reach making him cry. "Well you do remind us of that, often."

Stella pushed her hair back and pinned the younger woman with her stare. "I do not... at least not more than twice a day." The rest of them laughed.

"No one was more surprised than me," JJ said into their laughter. "After that miscarriage a year ago, I almost gave up hope, but ten months later here we are, on the way to making it to the second trimester."

"How's my sweet boy holding up?" Garcia said shifting in her chair and picking up her fork to dive into the cake in front of her.

"Spence is an absolute wreck. He barely had the chance to adjust once before, and then we lost the baby. I don't think he thinks it's real yet." JJ said glancing back at Spencer and smiling that little smile that made Emily's heart squeeze again, another happy marriage, another pregnancy. She knew she shouldn't be so jealous, but she was, to the point that she wanted to scream and hit something, preferably Derek.

"Spencer will be okay, you'll see." Garcia assured her; she winced and let out a breath.

"Penelope, what's wrong?" Emily asked, watching her like she might explode.

Penelope screamed loud enough that several people glanced their way including Morgan and Mac. Emily saw him tap Adam on the shoulder and gesture towards them. He said something and Adam went white.

"Here comes your husband Garcia." JJ said, as the other woman struggled to her feet.

"Oh Jesus, I think my water just broke." Garcia wailed as Adam skidded to a halt behind her.

"What… why didn't you say something," He squeaked looking absolutely panicked. His hands fluttered around her, not touching her as the rest of the guys approached the table.

"I thought it was another false alarm." Garcia said through clenched teeth. She grabbed his hand and squeezed so hard he flinched, and went red in the face.

"Come on you guys don't just stand there, we have to get to the hospital," Adam yelled.

Now several people were staring at them, Emily didn't know if it was because of Garcia's groans, or Adam's yelling, or Christopher's crying or a combination of all three.

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Adam wrapped an arm around his wife and Morgan took the other side. They moved quickly through the crowd only to be stopped by a guest.

"You won't get far, there's a wreck down the street, a bad one, traffic is blocked and jammed up for miles."

"Fuck," Adam exclaimed, earning himself a look a severe disapproval from that same guest, a grey haired woman with watery blue eyes and a horrid floral print dress. She sniffed and turned away leaving him to wonder what they were going to do.

"Adam, why are you just standing there," Peyton asked as she pushed past a cop in a dress uniform, and a teenage boy with his arms and lips locked to a black haired girl in a low cut purple dress. Mac followed behind her.

He explained what the other woman had told them. Garcia screamed again, and JJ said. "The bride's room, hurry." The guys followed Peyton to a room off the reception area. A tall blond haired man with a pencil thin mustache ran up to them as they entered the room. He was wringing his hands as he spoke in urgent tones.

"Sir, madam… I am sorry but we cannot have a baby in here the furniture, the carpets." His French accent was getting on Adams nerves, but he resisted the urge to smack the man, he'd let Mac deal with it.

He and Morgan helped her to the low couch at one end of the room. She was breathing like she'd just run a mile full out. "Baby, you gotta slow down your breathing okay. Relax, it's gonna be okay." Maybe if he could convince himself she would believe it too.

"Don't you tell me what to do Adam Ross; it's your fault I'm in this condition." Well the doctor had warned him she would get abusive, so he tried not to take it personally.

"Adam…why don't you and the others leave, I'll check to see how she's doing." Peyton said, kneeling next to Penelope in her splendid white silk dress.

"Ah - are you sure?" He didn't want to leave what if something happened, he trusted Peyton but she was a pathologist after all and…

"I'm sure, Sheldon and I can handle this, and he'll come get you in a minute." Peyton assured him. He kissed his wife and stood to leave the room.

"Don't go baby, I didn't mean what I said."

"I know Pen, I'll be back I promise." He leaned in to kiss her again, and then he left the room following Morgan and Mac.

He closed the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes and trying to slow his pounding heart. This was it; he was going to be a father. How could a life change so much in eighteen months. He heard the music down the hall and realized the party was still going on. How could it when his beautiful Pen was about to give birth to their baby?

"Hey… you ok Adam?" Danny stood in front of him, holding a sleeping Christopher in his arms. Adam watched the little boy and wondered what his own child would look like. Chris was a carbon copy of his father and Adam knew Lindsay adored him along with every female they came in contact with.

"Yeah… no... I don't know Danny."

"Hey... just between you and me, I was a wreck when this little guy came." Danny told him ruffling the little boy's hair and gently extracting the baby thumb from his mouth. Danny made it look easy but Adam was terrified.

"She'll be okay, Penelope is a strong woman." Mac said from the other side of him. He clasped Adam's shoulder briefly and was silent.

"I'm sorry sir, I ruined your wedding."

"No you didn't, so get that out of your head, if I know Peyton she's thrilled to be working on the living for a change." Mac said, the smile reappearing on his face.

The door opened and Sheldon stuck his head out. "Hey Dad, get your butt in here." He was grinning, which reassured Adam that everything was going okay. He followed his friend into the room.

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"Penelope, you listen to me, your doing fine. This baby is very impatient so just let your body tell you what to do. Peyton admonished firmly

Penelope was breathing hard and she'd just about squeezed the life out of Adam's hand. "Come on baby control your breathing, deep breaths in and out."

"I gotta push," she screamed.

"I know Penelope, but not yet. Wait till I tell you, I know it's hard." Peyton said from between Garcia's legs.

She called Adam up to her; he went slowly afraid of what he might see. Sheldon took his place with Penelope helping her with her breathing. Adam turned and saw red hair covering the head of his baby. His heart stopped in his chest and he felt faint. The head, his baby was really coming. He lost the feeling in his fingers, and through an act of desperate will made himself not faint.

"Baby, I see the head." He didn't realize he'd started to cry.

"Okay Pen, push with the next contraction." Peyton ordered. Penelope screamed and Adam watched in awe as the baby's shoulders came into view.

He heard Sheldon speaking quietly to Penelope. Peyton looked up and smiled at him. "Come down here Papa." He gaped at her and she motioned to him. He knelt next to her; the next moments were a blur. There was another long and agonized scream, and a rush of fluid and a little blood, and then the baby was in his arms.

Garcia was crying and so was the baby, the paramedics entered the room at that time having finally got through the traffic. They took over for Peyton, and Adam cut the cord.

"Adam," Penelope called out sounding a bit frightened. He took the towel Sheldon had retrieved from the bathroom and wrapped the baby in it after the paramedics did a cursory exam.

"Pen, it's a girl, isn't she beautiful. He was crying as he laid her in her mother's arms. Her eyes were blue and her hair was red, he couldn't tell yet but he thought she looked just like her mother.

"She's wonderful and beautiful just like her mother." He said bending down to kiss her.

"I love you husband," Garcia said, a tired smile flitting across her face as she looked up at him.

"I love you too wife." He stood back so the medics could get her onto the stretcher.

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Emily stood outside the door with Morgan. When she heard the cry of the baby, she nearly burst into tears. Loving a man like Morgan wasn't easy. He was so protective of his freedom that he'd driven Penelope away. It had taken months for Emily to forgive him for that, and it had almost destroyed her friendship with Penelope. Things had been easier when Penelope married Adam and moved to New York. The BAU missed her and she missed them, but she was happy with Adam and her software design company was taking off. Emily sometimes wondered if Morgan still loved Penelope and regretted that he'd pushed her away.

The door opened and Adam had come out of the room, he and Mac had made their way into the dining room. She watched as Adam told every one about Emily Ann Ross. Morgan turned and winked at her. She was stunned; they had actually named the baby Emily.

She turned and ran back down the hall crying. Someone called out to her, but she didn't hear them. She reached the end of the hall and leaned up against a door, sobs tearing through her body. A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to find Derek there. He didn't say anything; he just took her hand and pulled her back to the crowd.

"Derek, stop it, I don't want to -" She tried to pull away but he held on tight. The door opened to the bride's room and the medics came out with Penelope and the baby.

"Hey, can you guys wait a minute." He stepped into the crowd, still clinging to Emily. "Hey everyone," he whistled and the crowd quieted. "Adam, Mac, and Peyton, I don't want to steal your glory but there's something very important I have to do."

He reached into one pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. He fell to one knee in front of Emily.

"I'm sorry baby; I should've done this months ago, but now is as good a time as any. I love you with all my heart Emily Prentiss, will you marry me."

She could hardly see him through the tears that fell down her face. The whole room was silent as if everyone were holding their breath together. She could hardly speak, but she managed to whisper.

"Yes Derek… I'll marry you." He leaped to his feet with a whoop and swept her into his arms. He kissed her and the crowd cheered. The medics wheeled Penelope away and Adam trailed after them to the waiting bus. Morgan pushed the three quarter square cut diamond ring onto her finger and she kissed him again.

"Everyone," Mac's voice rang through the hall. "Raise your glasses, to my lovely wife. Peyton I love more than I ever thought possible, I'm so glad you married me. To Adam and Penelope and little Emily, may their lives be long and filled with joy. To Derek and Emily, may you be happy, congratulations" the crowd cheered.

Mac spoke again after the crowd quieted. "To all who risk their lives on a daily basis to keep others safe, may we always serve the people of this great city, and protect each other."

**THE END**


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